Error - Arduino Board interfacing with load cell and HX711 module

Projects Programming
1

I am interfacing Arduino UNO board with load cell and HX711 module. I have made circuit connections as per following figure.

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I am using the same HX711 module and same load cell as shown in the figure. I have installed HX711 library from GitHub - olkal/HX711_ADC: Arduino library for the HX711 24-bit ADC for weight scales
I am using the following code:

#include <HX711_ADC.h>
#if defined(ESP8266)|| defined(ESP32) || defined(AVR)
#include <EEPROM.h>
#endif

//pins:
const int HX711_dout = 2; //mcu > HX711 dout pin
const int HX711_sck = 3; //mcu > HX711 sck pin

//HX711 constructor:
HX711_ADC LoadCell(HX711_dout, HX711_sck);

const int calVal_eepromAdress = 0;
unsigned long t = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(57600); delay(10);
  Serial.println();
  Serial.println("Starting...");

  LoadCell.begin();
  //LoadCell.setReverseOutput(); //uncomment to turn a negative output value to positive
  unsigned long stabilizingtime = 2000; // preciscion right after power-up can be improved by adding a few seconds of stabilizing time
  boolean _tare = true; //set this to false if you don't want tare to be performed in the next step
  LoadCell.start(stabilizingtime, _tare);
  if (LoadCell.getTareTimeoutFlag() || LoadCell.getSignalTimeoutFlag()) {
    Serial.println("Timeout, check MCU>HX711 wiring and pin designations");
    while (1);
  }
  else {
    LoadCell.setCalFactor(1.0); // user set calibration value (float), initial value 1.0 may be used for this sketch
    Serial.println("Startup is complete");
  }
  while (!LoadCell.update());
  calibrate(); //start calibration procedure
}

void loop() {
  static boolean newDataReady = 0;
  const int serialPrintInterval = 0; //increase value to slow down serial print activity

  // check for new data/start next conversion:
  if (LoadCell.update()) newDataReady = true;

  // get smoothed value from the dataset:
  if (newDataReady) {
    if (millis() > t + serialPrintInterval) {
      float i = LoadCell.getData();
      Serial.print("Load_cell output val: ");
      Serial.println(i);
      newDataReady = 0;
      t = millis();
    }
  }

  // receive command from serial terminal
  if (Serial.available() > 0) {
    char inByte = Serial.read();
    if (inByte == 't') LoadCell.tareNoDelay(); //tare
    else if (inByte == 'r') calibrate(); //calibrate
    else if (inByte == 'c') changeSavedCalFactor(); //edit calibration value manually
  }

  // check if last tare operation is complete
  if (LoadCell.getTareStatus() == true) {
    Serial.println("Tare complete");
  }

}

void calibrate() {
  Serial.println("***");
  Serial.println("Start calibration:");
  Serial.println("Place the load cell an a level stable surface.");
  Serial.println("Remove any load applied to the load cell.");
  Serial.println("Send 't' from serial monitor to set the tare offset.");

  boolean _resume = false;
  while (_resume == false) {
    LoadCell.update();
    if (Serial.available() > 0) {
      if (Serial.available() > 0) {
        char inByte = Serial.read();
        if (inByte == 't') LoadCell.tareNoDelay();
      }
    }
    if (LoadCell.getTareStatus() == true) {
      Serial.println("Tare complete");
      _resume = true;
    }
  }

  Serial.println("Now, place your known mass on the loadcell.");
  Serial.println("Then send the weight of this mass (i.e. 100.0) from serial monitor.");

  float known_mass = 0;
  _resume = false;
  while (_resume == false) {
    LoadCell.update();
    if (Serial.available() > 0) {
      known_mass = Serial.parseFloat();
      if (known_mass != 0) {
        Serial.print("Known mass is: ");
        Serial.println(known_mass);
        _resume = true;
      }
    }
  }

  LoadCell.refreshDataSet(); //refresh the dataset to be sure that the known mass is measured correct
  float newCalibrationValue = LoadCell.getNewCalibration(known_mass); //get the new calibration value

  Serial.print("New calibration value has been set to: ");
  Serial.print(newCalibrationValue);
  Serial.println(", use this as calibration value (calFactor) in your project sketch.");
  Serial.print("Save this value to EEPROM adress ");
  Serial.print(calVal_eepromAdress);
  Serial.println("? y/n");

  _resume = false;
  while (_resume == false) {
    if (Serial.available() > 0) {
      char inByte = Serial.read();
      if (inByte == 'y') {
#if defined(ESP8266)|| defined(ESP32)
        EEPROM.begin(512);
#endif
        EEPROM.put(calVal_eepromAdress, newCalibrationValue);
#if defined(ESP8266)|| defined(ESP32)
        EEPROM.commit();
#endif
        EEPROM.get(calVal_eepromAdress, newCalibrationValue);
        Serial.print("Value ");
        Serial.print(newCalibrationValue);
        Serial.print(" saved to EEPROM address: ");
        Serial.println(calVal_eepromAdress);
        _resume = true;

      }
      else if (inByte == 'n') {
        Serial.println("Value not saved to EEPROM");
        _resume = true;
      }
    }
  }

  Serial.println("End calibration");
  Serial.println("***");
  Serial.println("To re-calibrate, send 'r' from serial monitor.");
  Serial.println("For manual edit of the calibration value, send 'c' from serial monitor.");
  Serial.println("***");
}

void changeSavedCalFactor() {
  float oldCalibrationValue = LoadCell.getCalFactor();
  boolean _resume = false;
  Serial.println("***");
  Serial.print("Current value is: ");
  Serial.println(oldCalibrationValue);
  Serial.println("Now, send the new value from serial monitor, i.e. 696.0");
  float newCalibrationValue;
  while (_resume == false) {
    if (Serial.available() > 0) {
      newCalibrationValue = Serial.parseFloat();
      if (newCalibrationValue != 0) {
        Serial.print("New calibration value is: ");
        Serial.println(newCalibrationValue);
        LoadCell.setCalFactor(newCalibrationValue);
        _resume = true;
      }
    }
  }
  _resume = false;
  Serial.print("Save this value to EEPROM adress ");
  Serial.print(calVal_eepromAdress);
  Serial.println("? y/n");
  while (_resume == false) {
    if (Serial.available() > 0) {
      char inByte = Serial.read();
      if (inByte == 'y') {
#if defined(ESP8266)|| defined(ESP32)
        EEPROM.begin(512);
#endif
        EEPROM.put(calVal_eepromAdress, newCalibrationValue);
#if defined(ESP8266)|| defined(ESP32)
        EEPROM.commit();
#endif
        EEPROM.get(calVal_eepromAdress, newCalibrationValue);
        Serial.print("Value ");
        Serial.print(newCalibrationValue);
        Serial.print(" saved to EEPROM address: ");
        Serial.println(calVal_eepromAdress);
        _resume = true;
      }
      else if (inByte == 'n') {
        Serial.println("Value not saved to EEPROM");
        _resume = true;
      }
    }
  }
  Serial.println("End change calibration value");
  Serial.println("***");
}

After I run the above program, it asks me to place weight on the load cell. I am placing 200 gms weight. It is computing calibration factor as - 0.03 and outputting load cell output value as starting from 10 to 500 and beyond. I don't understand why this is happening. Could somebody help me understand?

2

It could be that the precision of the 1K resistors isn't good enough. If you have a good DMM, what voltage do you measure between A+ and A-? If it measures more than 20mV, it could be out of range.

3

The resistance between A+ and A- is around 1 kilo ohm. Similarly, the resistance between E+ and E- is also around 1 kilo ohm.

4

They need to be higher precision than "around 1 kilo ohm" to be in the usable range for a wheatstone bridge:

20mV/5V =  0.004

Assuming the load cell is perfect, if the two resistors don't match to better than 0.4%, the mismatch will overload the HX711 by producing a voltage across the bridge of more than 20mV.

From Weight measurement using load cell adn HX711 module it looks like you are getting some readings out.

5

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