Hi guys, this is my first post here and I hope someone can help me out with some suggestions for building a particular circuit.
First of all, I've programmed Arduinos before and used pre made circuits, but have never made a circuit myself beyond basic stuff such as blinking LEDs tied to piezo sensors.
Now, I am trying to figure out a way to use an Arduino to detect when a static charge builds up in a carpet. The carpet has a copper wire running through it from which I am able to detect a charge using a volt meter on both ends of the copper wire as I scuff the carpet with my shoe.
I know that a static charge could fry the Arduino, but have no idea how to properly protect it from that while still being able to sense the 'activity' on the carpet.
Can anyone enlighten me? A 'for dummies' approach is warranted
I've been reading about isolated voltage measurement using Hall effect sensors. It sounds like it could do what I require. Is there anyone that can confirm this and tell me which kind I would need?
There must be other (read more simple) options though. I don't actually need to measure the voltage (yet), I'd be happy enough with being able to detect a charge going through the copper wire.
Hall effect sensors read magnetic fields, not electric fields.
Noncontact electrometer - the Fieldmill
This was in Scientific American, in a column called "The Amateur Scientist".
It can measure electric fields at great distances, measured in V/m (volts per meter). Measure how far the charged object is away, and you can calculate the voltage. So you can measure the charge on objects like clouds, or closer objects.
More information on non-contact surface voltmeters:
