By Joe Julicher, Microchip Technology Inc.
Often, goods are damaged in transit due to mechanical shock or vibration. Unfortunately, the damage is not always visible upon delivery, resulting in disputes between the shipper and its customers that sometimes lead to legal action. With the advent of tiny accelerometers and microcontrollers it is now possible to devise tiny sensors that can be placed in a shipment to detect and measure the presence of damaging vibrations.
Detecting the Vibration The key feature of a vibration sensor is the actual process of detecting a vibration event. This can be done with a minimum of external analog components by taking advantage of an analog comparator that is a standard feature of leading microcontrollers. The advantage of a comparator is that the microcontroller does not need to be awake while the unit is waiting for the event to occur. If an analog-to-digital converter were used, the microcontroller would have the task of repeatedly measuring the vibration and determining whether a vibration event was occurring.The most common accelerometers produce a voltage proportional to the G-forces applied to the sensor. The accelerometer signal is generally a DC voltage with a 0 G voltage of Vdd/2. Unfortunately, the 0 G voltage typically drifts with age and temperature. If the drift gets too large, the voltage could trip the comparator and cause a fault vibration trigger. The solution is a combination of a low-pass and a high-pass filter to focus on the desired vibration signals (see Figure 1).
The circuit shown above uses a conventional comparator to demonstrate the concept of the vibration detector. The low-pass filter uses the internal resistance of the accelerometer and capacitor C3. This has a 3 db point of approximately 5 kHz. The second filter consists of C1 and R1, R2 and has a 3 db point of approximately 500 Hz. Any vibration with frequencies between 500 and 5 kHz will cause the comparator to trip. R1+R2 should equal the 32 kOhms, because the internal resistance of the accelerometer is 32 kOhms. R1 and R2 allow the acceleration signal to be attenuated to fine tune the G force detection threshold. The output of this comparator will now toggle with vibration. The comparator is comparing the vibration signal with ground. This is a simplification that works because most comparators are not sensitive all the way to ground and will require a few millivolts of signal to detect the signal.
Choosing a Microcontroller After the signal has been sliced and compared, the microcontroller must process the data and determine the severity of the vibration. There are many microcontrollers that would fit in this application. But, an ideal choice would be one that is very low power, very low cost and very small. The 6-pin, SOT-23 PIC10F204 microcontroller fits this description very well. The PIC10F204 has an internal comparator, so we will not require an external comparator. After the detection circuit is attached to the PIC10F204, there are two pins remaining for a simple user interface.
list p=10F204 ; list directive to define processor #include; processor specific variable definitions __CONFIG _CP_OFF & _WDT_OFF & _MCLRE_OFF & _IntRC_OSC ; configured for no watchdog timer, no master clear and internal RC ;***** VARIABLE DEFINITIONS shocks EQU 0x07 ; shock counter GPIO_PV EQU 0x08 ; previous value of GPIO temp EQU 0x09 ; working variable PIN_CHANGED EQU 0x0A ; the changed pins delay_cntr0 EQU 0x0B ; first delay counter delay_cntr1 EQU 0x0C ; second delay counter ;********************************************************************** org 0x0ff ; movlw 0xA5 ; dummy osccal value org 0x00 main movwf OSCCAL ; calibrate the oscillator MOVLW 0X09 ; configure the PORT for I/O's TRIS GPIO ; GP0 is Input, GP1 is Output ; GP2 is Output, GP3 is Input ; the PIC10F200 wakes up from sleep by going through reset. ; however it can determine the reset source. ; therefore the first step is to learn the cause of the reset. btfsc STATUS,GPWUF goto wakeup_pin_change clrf STATUS clrf shocks movf GPIO,w movwf GPIO_PV sleep wakeup_pin_change movf GPIO,w movwf temp xorwf GPIO_PV,w movwf PIN_CHANGED ; PIN_CHANGED holds all the chnaged pins andwf temp,f ; temp holds the changed pins that went high btfsc temp,3 ; did the button get released? sleep ; don't worry about released buttons btfsc PIN_CHANGED,3 ; did the button get pressed? goto button_pressed ; handle the button press incf shocks,f ; it must be a vibration...count it sleep ; go back to sleep button_pressed movf shocks,w ; test to see if shock counter is clear btfsc STATUS,Z goto no_shocks_left ; if it is clear then we wait for the button to be pressed ; it is time to blink the led the total number of shocks bsf GPIO,2 ; LED ON call quarter_second_delay ; wait for 1/4 second bcf GPIO,2 ; LED OFF call quarter_second_delay ; wait for 1/4 second decf shocks,f ; decrement the shock count goto button_pressed ; repeat no_shocks_left btfss GPIO,3 goto no_shocks_left ; wait here until button is released movf GPIO,w ; reload a fresh previous value movwf GPIO_PV ; save it for the wakeup sleep quarter_second_delay clrf delay_cntr0 movlw 0xC3 movwf delay_cntr1 delay_loop goto $+1 decfsz delay_cntr0,f goto delay_loop decfsz delay_cntr1,f goto delay_loop retlw 0 END
The software above is very simple and only counts shocks. If the actual duration of a shock needed to be tested, then the microcontroller could easily stay awake for a few hundred milliseconds to see if the shocks continue. If they continue then the duration can be measured. If they do not continue, then the microcontroller can go back to sleep. When the microcontroller is sleeping the instruction clock is turned off. With the clock off, there is no way to determine how far apart the shocks are. Measurements become a tradeoff between the minimum power of sleep and the most accurate measurements.
Conclusions Small mechanical sensors, based on springs and weights, exist that provide a visual indication of shock. However, they are only one-time use, and they provide no information concerning the number or duration of the shock events sustained by the package.This article describes a small electronic watchdog circuit that can be reused repeatedly, provides a visual indication of shock events, and counts the number of shocks that have occurred. The watchdog circuit uses small, low-cost 2-axis G sensors and a 6-pin, SOT-23 microcontroller to monitor the vibration and shock sustained by the unit. By proper design of the signal conditioning circuitry, the acceleration due to movement can be filtered. This allows the circuit to detect and record the duration of the damaging shock. With additional software and other enhancements this device can be built into a complete data collection system for a shipping company. As is, this device counts how many times your fragile products are being mistreated while en route to their destinations.
Joe Julicher is a Principal Applications Engineer for the Security, Microcontroller and Technology Development Division, Microchip Technology Inc.
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