This range meter detects a reflected wave from the object after sending out a ultrasonic pulse. It uses a PIC16F873. By measuring the time which returns after emitting a sound wave, a distance to the object is measured. It can measure from 29cm to 3.6m distance.
The ultrasonic signal which was received with the reception sensor is amplified by 1000 times(60dB) of voltage with the operational amplifier with two stages. It is 100 times at the first stage (40dB) and 10 times (20dB) at the next stage.
Generally, the positive and the negative power supply are used for the operational amplifier. The circuit this time works with the single power supply of +9 V. Therefore, for the positive input of the operational amplifiers, the half of the power supply voltage is appied as the bias voltage. Then the alternating current signal can be amplified on 4.5V central voltage. When using the operational amplifier with the negative feedback, the voltage of the positive input terminal and the voltage of the negative input terminal become equal approximately. This is called virtual grounding. So, by this bias voltage, the side of the positive and the side of the negative of the alternating current signal can be equally amplified. When not using this bias voltage, the distortion causes the alternating current signal. This technique is often used when using the operational amplifier which needs two kinds of powers in the single power.
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