The SparkFun Load Cell Amplifier for the HX711 IC makes it easy to read values from load cells. Connect a 4 wire wheatstone bridge load cell to this little breakout board and read the resistance using a microcontroller to get very accurate weight measurement.
The SparkFun Load Cell Amplifier is a small breakout board for the HX711 IC that allows you to easily read load cells to measure weight. By connecting the amplifier to your microcontroller you will be able to read the changes in the resistance of the load cell and with some calibration you’ll be able to get very accurate weight measurements. This can be handy for creating your own industrial scale, process control, or simple presence detection.
The HX711 uses a two wire interface (Clock and Data) for communication. Any microcontroller’s GPIO pins should work and numerous libraries have been written making it easy to read data from the HX711. Check the hookup guide below for more information.
Load cells use a four wire wheatstone bridge to connect to the HX711. These are commonly coloured RED, BLK, WHT, GRN, and YLW. Each colour corresponds to the conventional colour coding of load cells:
The YLW pin acts as an optional input that is not hooked up to the strain gauge but is utilised to ground and shield against outside EMI (electromagnetic interference). Please keep in mind that some load cells might have slight variations in colour coding.
Note: Special thanks to Bodge for supplying the Library for the HX711!
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