On 23/06/2011 15:10, Forrest Christian wrote: > I have a circuit which I now plan to use an allegro ACS711 current > sensor. This puts out voltage based on current, where zero current is > referenced to VCC/2. As I only care about current in one direction, > I'd really like to remove this offset and then be able to amplify this > to a range based on my expected current range. > > Vcc is 3.3V. The full scale output is from 1.65 to 3.3V. The current > range I am working with is probably more like 1.65V to 2.5V. I'd like to > move this to where this is scaled to a range of around 0 to 3.3V. > > The obvious way to do this is to feed this output into a difference > amplifier made out of an opamp and four resistors. Wire the positive > input to the ACS711, and wire the negative input from a VCC/2 voltage > source made from another opamp in unity gain mode and with a voltage > divider on the input. But that seems like a bit of overkill since I'm > pretty certain I should be able to do this all with one opamp and skip > the unity gain amp- unfortunately I'm not seeming to have much luck > doing the correct analysis to make this work. > > So, I'd appreciate any opamp wizards which could either just point me > towards the solution, or even better help me figure out where my 'mental > model' of opamp operations is falling down in this case, so I don't have > to ask a similar question again. > > Thanks, > > -forrest what is resolution of ADC compared to accuracy of the sensor? Does it=20 actually matter if full adc range isn't used? If so save on HW and just=20 scale in SW. Unless you use precision resistors etc adding an op-amp may=20 reduce accuracy? --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .