Frequency to Voltage Converter And Digital Tachometers LM2907 From ational !

emiconductor "ntroduction Frequency-to-Voltage converts are commonly associated with digital tachometers, which are used to measure the rate of rotation for a wheel. Digital tachometers are currently available in a wide range of forms (all of which use some type of frequency to voltage converter). included below. ost non-contact tachometers require reflective strips to be placed on the ob!ect to be measured. "ictures of several types of digital tachometers are

#nfrared Digital $achometer

%aser Digital $achometer

&ombo'(lectromagnetic Digital $achometer

A##lications $he frequency to voltage converter can be used for any application that requires measurement of a repeating event, such as a wheel ma)ing a complete rotation. the robot, this could be used in place of the current encoders to measure velocity. Theory o$ %#eration * rate meter simply measures the rate at which some event occurs. +sually this is done by counting the events (contact closures, electrical pulses, etc.) for a given period of time ()nown as the integration interval) and then simply dividing the number of events by the time to get a rate. &onversely, an analog tachometer is usually built up out of an electro-mechanical current meter and some sort of input conditioning circuitry. #nstead of integrating the input signal over discrete time intervals, the mass of the meter movement itself is used to continuously integrate the input pulses. &hen and 'o( to )se For the % ,-./0-1 (1 pins) in the configuration seen below, a frequency signal is applied to the input of the charge pump at pin 2. $he voltage appearing at pin , will swing between two values which are appro3imately 4 (V&&) 5 V6( and 7 (V&&) 5 V6(. $he voltage at pin 8 will have a value equal to V&& 9 f#0 9 &2 9 :2 9 ;, where ; is the gain constant (normally 2..). For

&onfiguration for the % ,-./0-1 :2, &2, and &, are sub!ect to some limitations, which can be found on the % ,-./ data sheet from 0ational <emiconductor. * typical magnetic pic) up is shown below. * magnetic pic)up is essentially a coil wound around a permanently magneti=ed probe. >hen discrete ferromagnetic ob!ects such as gear teeth, turbine rotor blades, slotted discs, or shafts with )eyways-are passed through the probe?s magnetic field, the flu3 density is modulated. $his induces *& voltages in the coil. @ne complete cycle of voltage is generated for each ob!ect passed. #f the ob!ects are evenly spaced on a rotating shaft, the total number of cycles will be a measure of the total rotation, and the frequency of the *& voltage will be directly proportional to the rotational speed of the shaft

agnetic "ic)up "nter$acing $he diagram below shows a good way to interface the % ,-./0 (2A-pins). $he input signal goes to pin 2, the capacitors and resistors mentioned above are given, a reference voltage is applied to pin 22, and a constant voltage is on pins 1 and -. $he emitter output is connected to the inverting input of the op amp so that pin B will follow pins 8 and A and provide a low impedance output voltage proportional to input frequency. $he output signal from pins B and 2. is C/ D='V. $his output voltage should be sent to an *D&, and then read by the D<".

Ty#ical !#eci$ications and *rices $he linearity of the output voltage is typically better than ..8E of full scale. "lots of the linearity of the tachometer vs. operating temperature are shown below.

$his chip is a typical 2A-pin (or 1-pin) footprint, as seen below.

0ational <emiconductor sells the % ,-./0 for F..1. each, but this price is for quantities of 2... and over. $he magnetic pic)up sensor shown in the e3amples costs F/B at least. ore details about the % ,-./ and digital tachometers can be found from the websites listed in the references section +e$erences httpG''www.national.com'pf'% '% ,-./.html httpG''Acrawler.cruiserpages.com'Diesel'&heap$ric)s'$achometer'inde3.shtml httpG''www.daytronic.com'products'trans't-speed.htm <ome venders for tachometers httpG''www.chec)line.com'tachometers'cdt,....htm httpG''www.tequipment.net'*( &&alibration#nstruments.html httpG''!etronl.chinasuppliers.alibaba.com'product'.'2.28-2...html