DIY Load Cell... About to weigh to 10lbs?

[xBa380]

I know some of you are pretty mechanical and may know of a very easy way to do this... For a school project we need to create a load cell capable of 10lbs. We have access to strain gauges, DMM's, Oscilloscopes, Wheatstone bridges, wiring, etc...

But we need help to develop a few simple method to build one. For those who may know or have some reference to some plans or something? We were assigned this project in class the other day and only have like 2 weeks to develop a plan, write a report, calibrate, etc... Nobody is happy about the very tight schedule. We have a few ideas but looking for more if possible.

I appreciate any help you can give. Searching google so far has resulted in limited stuff so far.

Thanks!

 

[xBa380]

Sorry, the topic was supposed to say "Able to weigh up to 10lbs".

 

[Texan4Life]

What do you mean by load cell?

 

[xBa380]

Disregard, we got an idea and it is built and made up. Just have to calibrate and test it tomorrow in the lab.

A load cell is basically like a scale, in raw form. Using strain gages mounted on a 1" thick cut PCV pipe (cut into a C) we placed the strain gage on it and sandwiched the PVC between two planks of wood. Using a digital multimeter you can measure the resistance change when a load is applied and strain to the PVC pipe occurs.

We are going to route the strain gage through a Wheatstone Bridge and calibrate our signal. Then we can convert the strain into weight. Our project was to design and create a load cell and then do a whole bunch of analysis on it (dynamic range, sensitivity, etc...)