A REPORT ON

INSTRUMENTATION AMPLIFIER
[In partial fulfillment of the course:
Analog Electronics EEE/INSTR C364]

Submitted by:

JITIN S A RAGHU
Tutorial Section Tutorial Instructor : :

2005A8PS237 2005A8PS325
3 LUCKY SHARAN Prof. V.K.CHAUBEY

Instructor-in-Charge :

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI RAJASTHAN, 333031 APRIL, 2008

Introduction
An instrumentation amplifier is a type of differential amplifier that has been specifically designed to have characteristics suitable for use in measurement and test equipment. These characteristics include very low DC offset, low drift, low noise, very high open-loop gain, very high common-mode rejection ratio, and very high input impedances. They are used where great accuracy and stability of the circuit both short- and long-term are required. Although the instrumentation amplifier is usually shown schematically identical to a standard op-amp, the electronic instrumentation amp is almost always internally composed of 3 op-amps. These are arranged so that there is one op-amp to buffer each input (+,-), and one to produce the desired output with adequate impedance matching for the function. The most commonly used instrumentation amplifier circuit is shown in the figure. The gain of the circuit is

The ideal common-mode gain of an instrumentation amplifier is zero. In the circuit shown, common-mode gain is caused by mismatches in the values of the equally-numbered resistors and by the non-zero common mode gains of the two input op-amps.

Working
The instrumentation amplifier works in two stages. It is actually the second stage which amplifies the differential voltage applied. The first stage is to buffer V1 and V2, so that the amplification stage doesnt load the sources. Also, using a buffer provides low output impedance which is a critical requirement for the accurate working of the second stage.

Fabrication of instrumentation amplifier on a PCB

The following describes, very briefly, the procedure followed and components used in fabricating the instrumentation amplifier on a PCB. Components Used: 1) PCB
2) A741 opamps

1 3 6 1

3) 82k resistors 4) 100k pot

5) IC Holders(14 pin) 3 6) Wires 7) Soldering facility Brief Description: As per the figure in the previous page, R1 = R2 = R3 = 82k. A high value of resistance was chosen to ensure high input impedance and high feedback resistance. The 100k pot is used in place of Rgain to provide for variable gain. Results obtained: A 400mV (p-p) 100Hz sinusoidal signal was applied at the inputs. At Rgain (max) = 95kohm, output = 1.4 V (p-p). From theoretical calculations, output = 1.09 V (p-p). Gain = 3.5 At Rgain (min) = 15kohm, output was at the threshold of saturation = 7.1 V (pp). From theoretical calculations, output = 6.83 V (p-p). Gain = 17.75

Hence, the results obtained are true within experimental error.

Conclusion
The instrumentation amplifier was soldered onto a PCB and was checked for proper functioning.

References
1) Laboratory Experiments and PSPICE Simulations in Analog Electronics, Maheshwari L.K., Anand M.M.S., Prentice Hall of India, 2006
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumentation_amplifier 3) http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_3/chpt_8/10.html 4) http://www.ecircuitcenter.com/Circuits/instamp1/instamp1.htm