Motivated by the widespread need to sense water conductivity in oceanography, as well as in other applications in fluid dynamics and environmental monitoring, we propose using the exposed gold-plated pins of readily available micro-USB connectors as miniaturized, parallel finger electrodes. Since the electrodes are 600 μm apart, they grant sub-mm spatial resolution, suitable for most applications. Standard micro-USB cables are an ideal, ready-to-use solution, since they are shielded, are preassembled in different lengths, and enable 2 and 4-wire measurements. In order to take full advantage of these USB probes, we have designed a custom, open-source 4-channel measuring circuit, named "Conduino", consisting of a low-noise (SNR = 60 dB) shield board coupled to an Arduino microcontroller. Experimental results demonstrate sensing performances comparable with state-of-the-art reference instrumentation (0.1% resolution in the 0.1-15 S/m range), with significantly lower cost and increased versatility and reliability.

Micro-USB Connector Pins as Low-Cost, Robust Electrodes for Microscale Water Conductivity Sensing in Oceanographic Research

CARMINATI, MARCO;STEFANELLI, VALERIO;
2016-01-01

Abstract

Motivated by the widespread need to sense water conductivity in oceanography, as well as in other applications in fluid dynamics and environmental monitoring, we propose using the exposed gold-plated pins of readily available micro-USB connectors as miniaturized, parallel finger electrodes. Since the electrodes are 600 μm apart, they grant sub-mm spatial resolution, suitable for most applications. Standard micro-USB cables are an ideal, ready-to-use solution, since they are shielded, are preassembled in different lengths, and enable 2 and 4-wire measurements. In order to take full advantage of these USB probes, we have designed a custom, open-source 4-channel measuring circuit, named "Conduino", consisting of a low-noise (SNR = 60 dB) shield board coupled to an Arduino microcontroller. Experimental results demonstrate sensing performances comparable with state-of-the-art reference instrumentation (0.1% resolution in the 0.1-15 S/m range), with significantly lower cost and increased versatility and reliability.
2016
Procedia Engineering
impedance sensor; stratified flows; Engineering (all)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1009848
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