Interfacing ATI Mini40 force/torque sensor with Arduino MEGA

Other Hardware Sensors
1

Hey,

I'm very new to Arduino and I'm working on a project that requires me to read force sensor data from an ATI Mini40 F/T sensor into an Arduino MEGA.

I thought that it would be just as simple as reading from analog input and scaling the read value but I'm only getting zeros at the output

Some in this post said that it could only be interfaced using either RS-485 or CANbus which requires the use of an adapter module to convert the signal levels. AltSoftSerial has been recommended but that hasn't worked for me either:

https://forum.arduino.cc/t/interfacing-force-torque-sensor-with-arduino-uno/626395

Here is the AltSoftSerial documentation: AltSoftSerial - Arduino Reference

Here is my code:

#include <AltSoftSerial.h>
AltSoftSerial altSerial;

#define forcePin A0 

// Declare helper variables
#define RESOLUTION 1024.0
#define MAX_READ_VAL 5.0

void setup() {
pinMode(forcePin, INPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  int c;
  float force;
  unsigned long sensorValue = analogRead(forcePin);
  Serial.println(sensorValue);
  delay(2000);
  // Convert the analog reading (which goes from 0 - 1023) to a voltage (0 - 5V):
  force = sensorValue * (MAX_READ_VAL / (RESOLUTION - 1.0)); // minus 1 to index from 0
  Serial.println(force);
  delay(2000);

// alternative method (not working)
//  if (Serial.available()) {
//  c = Serial.read();
//  Serial.println(c);
//  altSerial.print(c);
//  }  
}

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Nubia

2

Please give a link to the interface documentation of your module.

3

The mini40 specifications are in section 5.7, page 51:

& here is the force/torque controller manual:

4

Did you also connect the reference/ground line? And protect the ADC input against negative (+-5V) voltages?

5

Yes I've connected the reference but I haven't protected the input against negative voltages. I've just added an if statement to only read the input if the sensor value is > 0V but it is still giving me zero at the output.

6

The ADC can not yield negative values, software solutions are useless. Perhaps you have killed your input already?

How do you treat the sensor to force non-zero output?
What voltage do you get with voltmeter?

7

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