Discourse/Projects/2021-09-20 Help measuring ultra-low current

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Help measuring ultra-low current

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FlyingSaucrDude — 2021-09-20

Hi all! I’m working on an open source low-power wireless temperature sensor, and I was wondering if Noisebridge has any equipment for measuring ultra-low currents (on the order of microamps).

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croepha — 2021-09-20

You can build one of these µCurrent – EEVblog he has some articles and videos on the design of the circuit

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FlyingSaucrDude — 2021-09-20

Thanks! I was hoping I could be lazy and someone had already built one for general use at Noisebridge, since I really only want to do one or two measurements.

But if not, maybe I’ll try building one and leave it for folks to use.

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Zach — 2021-09-25

uAmps is hard…what kind of precision are you after?

the INA219 is an excellent IC that adafruit sells modules of for current measuring. With proper setup and callibration you could probably get what you need using only a Nano.

Ive got a test rig one, but for this specialized application, wiring and layout will be very important.

Also note, the digital bench supplies I donated a few years back should also do this pretty well. Assuming they made it to the new space.

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Zach — 2021-09-26

@FlyingSaucrDude the nice digital bench supply I donated looks like the bottom item in this pic, with power terminals though:

[https://discuss.noisebridge.info/uploads/default/1a44302cd8c6c0f41f9dc7e5de8e551bd5c68721 IMG_20210925_173441_011440×2560 834 KB ]

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