Reference design delivers fast, low-power data acquisition

1st June 2016

Mick Elliott

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The portfolio of Maxim products at Farnell element14 has been extended to include Reference Design Boards and Evaluation Kits. This addition supports its extensive portfolio of data converters, amplifiers, clocks and timers, and microcontrollers, with products for power management, interface, RF and wireless, and memory. The latest addition from Maxim Integrated Products is the Smart Force Sensor Reference Design Board.

The MAXREFDES82#, features the MAX11254 24-bit, 6-channel, 64ksps delta-sigma ADC with SPI interface. Four load cells are mounted on a quadrant plane to detect touch forces applied on the flat plastic plate.

Based on the forces applied on each individual load cell, the system displays the total force magnitude, and the coordinates of the force centre. The force magnitude and coordinates are scanned approximately every 10 milliseconds.

The design board features a next-generation, industrial Smart Force Sensor solution that offers near-complete integration, enabling a quicker time-to-market for electronics designs.

Mounted on a quadrant of load cells channeled into a multi-channel, 24-bit analogue-to-digital converter (ADC), it senses weight and centre of mass for objects placed on the platform.

The cost-effective reference design delivers fast, low-power data acquisition and provides high precision, high resolution measurements.

Its compact form factor is suited for rapid evaluation or installation in applications such as 3D human-interface input devices, battery-powered instrumentation, and industrial control and measurement.

The most recent addition to the Maxim portfolio includes over 100 evaluation tools. The continual addition of new products is a result of a global franchise agreement to enhance the range of Maxim product offerings over time at element14 to support prototyping and early stage design.