Product description
SparkFun OpenScale is an easy-to-use, open-source solution for weight and temperature measurement. It can read various types of load cells and offers a user-friendly serial menu to configure calibration value, sampling rate, timestamping, and precision units.
Connect a four-wire or five-wire load cell of any capacity, plug OpenScale into a USB port, open a terminal window at 9,600 bps, and you'll immediately see weight readings. OpenScale allows you to convert a single load cell - or four load sensors in a Wheatstone bridge configuration - into a DIY scale for your application.
OpenScale is designed for projects and applications that require continuous readings without user intervention (e.g., on a conveyor belt system).
The board uses an ATmega328P microcontroller to handle communication and transmit data to a serial interface or to a datalogger (such as OpenLog). It includes an FT231 for USB-to-serial communication, an HX711 load amplifier with 24-bit ADC, and a TMP102 to record ambient temperature. OpenScale communicates at TTL level with a default of 9,600 bps 8-N-1 and supports configurable baud rates from 1,200 bps to 1,000,000 bps.
Specifications:
- Operating voltage: 5 V
- Current consumption: 80–100 mA
- Selectable output rate: 10 or 80 readings per second
- Local and external temperature sensors
- Fixed and adjustable gain
