IJSTE - International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering | Volume 2 | Issue 09 | March 2016

ISSN (online): 2349-784X

Capacitive Sensor Interfaced with Arduino

Rolan G. Pereira
UG Student
Department of Electronics & telecommunication
Don Bosco College of Engineering

Deeksha A. Naik
UG student
Department of Electronics & telecommunication
Don Bosco College of Engineering

Shruti S. Naik
UG Student
Department of Electronics & telecommunication
Don Bosco College of Engineering

Shubham D. Naik
UG Student
Department of Electronics & telecommunication
Don Bosco College of Engineering

Prof. Samantha Cardoso

Assistant Professor
Department of Electronics & telecommunication
Don Bosco College of Engineering

Abstract
The present paper gives the detailed analysis of the relationship between Voltage and Capacitance. This conversion from
capacitance to voltage is required for the interfacing of electronic microcontrollers. Detection of various dielectrics can be done
by using an accurate low capacitance measurement system that can be used to measure small values of capacitances. This
capacitance measurement system uses quad two-input NAND Schmitt trigger circuit for the measurement and this system is
integrated with Arduino for data acquisition purpose. The Arduino interacts with software developed in the PC end through USB
architecture and an attractive Graphical User Interface (GUI) based system is developed in the PC end to provide the user with
real time, online display of capacitance under measurement.
Keywords: Schmitt Trigger, Arduino, Data Acquisition, Graphical User Interface
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years the developments of capacitive transducer systems have been an important area of research. Many of these
capacitive transducers are employed for measurement of physical quantities like motion, force, acceleration, torque[2][6],[10].One of the specific categories of capacitive sensors that require sophisticated instrumentation based measurement
systems is the measurement of low value capacitances either in its individual capacity or in a differential form[7]-[9].The
methods commonly employed for low capacitance measurement include methods involving AC bridges, charge/discharge
methods, oscillation and resonance based method[9],[12],relaxation based method[11] etc. One of the earliest forms of the AC
Bridges was Schering bridges which later formed inspiration for the development of various ratio-arm bridges. The later versions
of the bridge circuits attempted to improve upon the basic problem associated with bridge circuits that they were not capable of
providing sufficient stray-immunity. The charge/discharge method essentially employs the method of charging the unknown
capacitance up to a certain voltage level using a switch e.g. a CMOS switch and then discharging that capacitor using another
switch. This differential circuit gained popularity because it can reduce drifts caused by common inputs and it is capable of
providing good accuracy even for high frequency operation in the range of MHzs .In oscillation methods RC or LC oscillators
can be used to provide a frequency as a function of unknown capacitance and a frequency to voltage converter can be used to
measure the unknown capacitance[9].Although these methods are quite simple and accurate for medium capacitance
measurement as they cannot eliminate the effect of stray capacitance in their measurement system.
There are two types of capacitive sensors:
- Passive
- Active
Passive systems have certain benefits. They provide higher flexibility in probe configuration, stability and lower cost. Their
disadvantages are low bandwidth and lower drive frequency which makes them unsuited for some application. Active systems
operate at higher frequencies and higher output bandwidth. They are suitable for applications which may involve stray electrical
noise on the target. The disadvantages of active system include higher cost and less configuration flexibility.

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II. BLOCK DIAGRAM

Fig. 1: Block Diagram of capacitance meter interfaced with Arduino

The block diagram of the capacitance meter interfaced with Arduino is shown above. The capacitance meter is connected to the
Arduino via an analog pin. Two plates are connected to the capacitance meter between which dielectric is placed. Based on the
different dielectrics the output of the capacitance meter varies.
III. CIRCUIT LEVEL DESIGN

Fig. 2: Circuit Level Design

The capacitance meter circuit consists of four NAND gates out of which three are inverters and one is exclusive NAND gate.
Here we give variable input supply and measure unknown capacitance. Capacitor C1 is the unknown capacitance which we have
to measure.C2 is a fixed capacitor having a high value compared to C1. The two capacitors have same charging time but
different discharging time t. Since C2>C1, we get proper square wave using which we can measure unknown value of capacitor.
Assume that the output of the gate G1 is low and both the capacitors are charging through Vcc. At G1 input is high therefore the
output is low. The diode D1 is forward biased and hence the output to G4 is low. Therefore D3 is reversed biased and C2
charges. When C2 crosses UTP (Upper Threshold Point) the input becomes low and output of gate G4 is high. As a result
capacitor C2 gets path to discharge. When it reaches LTP (Lower Threshold Point) capacitor C2 discharges and hence again the
G4 input is high and output is low.

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IV. METHODOLOGY
Capacitance is the ability of a capacitor to store electrical charge. A common form-a parallel plate capacitor-the capacitance is
calculated by C=Q/V, where C is the capacitance related by the stored charge Q at a given voltage V. The capacitance (measured
in Farad) of a parallel plate capacitor consist of two conductor plates and is calculated by :
C=o * r * A/d
- A is the area of the two plates (in meters)
- r is the dielectric constant of the material between the plates.
- o is the permittivity of free space (8.85x10^-12 F/m)
- d is the separation between the plates (in meters)
The plates of a charged parallel plate capacitor carry equal but opposite charge spread evenly over the surface of the plates.
The electric field lines start from the higher voltage potential charged plate and at the lower voltage potential charged plate. The
parallel plate equation ignores the fringing effect due to the complexity of modelling the behaviour but is a good approximation
if the distance (d) between the plates is small as compared to other dimensions of the plates so the field in the capacitor over
most of its area is uniform. The fringing effect occurs near the edges of the plates, and depending on the application, can affect
the accuracy of the system. The density of the field lines in the fringe region is less than directly underneath the plates since the
field strength is proportional to the density of the equipotential lines. This results in weaker field strength in the fringe region in a
much smaller contribution to the total measured capacitance.

Fig. 3: (a) Parallel plate capacitor

Fig. 4: (b) Electric fields of a parallel plate capacitor

The graph which is obtained on the CRO which is the output from the capacitance meter is shown below:

Fig. 5:

Where:
T is the pulse period.
is the duty cycle.
Vp is the peak value.
Consider the equation:
Vdc= /Tp*Vp

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Vdc is the output voltage which is measured on the multimeter. Vp and T are constants.
=RC
Therefore, Vdc is directly proportional to R and C.
Also R is a constant and hence Vdc becomes proportional to C. This shows that the value of unknown capacitance can be
calculated by measuring the voltage.
V. IMPLEMENTATION
The capacitive meter is used to measure capacitance in terms of voltages. The capacitive meter interfaced with an Arduino can
detect materials of different dielectrics constants. Voltage levels are obtained from an externally connected capacitor to the
Capacitance meter. Capacitance changes with dielectric constants, which is directly proportional to the voltage between the
plates. The voltage is fed to the Arduino. The Arduino, maps the analog values ranging from 0-1023. Various dielectric materials
can be classified into ranges and hence can be detected. A threshold is obtained for all detectable materials. These thresholds are
then programmed into the Arduino. The Arduino will then compare the voltages when the materials are placed in between the
plates. If it matches with the threshold set for the respective material its output is high indicating the waste is detected.
VI. TABLE
Distance(inch)
0
1
2
3

Plates(30cmX30cm)
Capacitance(pF) Voltage(mV)
Infinite
640
31.3
544
15.69
504
10.46
480

Plates(7cmX7cm)
Capacitance(pF) Voltage(mV)
infinite
420
17
312
--

VII. GRAPHS
For plates of 30cmX30cm

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VIII. COMPONENTS
Op-Amp (IC 741)

Fig. 6: Op Amp

The LM741 series are general-purpose operational amplifiers which feature improved performance over industry standards like
the LM709. They are direct, Exceeded plug-in replacements for the 709C, LM201, MC1439,and 748 in most applications.
The amplifiers offer many features which make their application nearly fool proof: overload protection on the input and output,
no latch-up when the common mode range is exceeded, as well as freedom from oscillations.
The LM741C is identical to the LM741 and LM741A except that the LM741C has their performance ensured over a 0C to
+70C temperature range, instead of 55C to +125C.
Applications
-

Comparators
Multivibrators
DC Amplifiers
Summing Amplifiers
Integrator or Differentiators
Active Filters
DC Motor

Fig. 7: DC Motor

Under Electrical Motor, as we know that any electrical motor can be utilized as servo motor if it is controlled by
servomechanism. Likewise, if we control a DC motor by means of servomechanism, it would be referred as DC motor. There are
different types of DC motor, such shunt wound DC motor, series DC motor, Separately excited DC motor, permanent magnet
DC motor, Brushless DC motor etc. Among all mainly separately excited DC motor, permanent magnet DC motor and brush less
DC motor are used as gear.

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Arduino Uno
The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328(datasheet).It has 14digital input/output pins (of which 6
can be used as PWM outputs),6 analog inputs,a 16MHz crystal oscillator,a USB connection,a power jack,an ICSP header,and a
reset button.

Fig. 2: Arduino Uno

IX. CONCLUSION
The capacitive sensor can be used to separate various materials either by changing the dielectric constant between the plates or as
a weight sensor by changing the distance between the plates. We can also differentiate between wet waste and dry waste since
wet waste has moisture (water) in it which has a dielectric constant of 80.
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