One of the least expensive and simplest ways to measure temperature is with a LM35. This is another component found in our SainSmart kit. This transistor looking device has 3 pins, 5v, Signal out, and Gnd. The signal is an analog voltage that connects directly to a Arduino analog input. In this example we will use A0.
Now the LM35 outputs 0-1v for it’s range of -55C to 150C. Since the Arduino defaults to a 5v reference for analog to digital conversion, we are losing 80% of the sensors range, so we are switching to the internal reference which is 1.1v. This is a better match for this sensor. We are also doing a Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion in the code.
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With the pins down, and the flat face of the sensor facing you, the pins, from left to right are:
V- S – G
Where V connects to +5, S connects to A0, and G connects to ground. The data sheet can be found at http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm35.pdf
The code looks like this:
float tempC;
float tempF;
int reading;
int tempPin = 0;
void setup() {
// put your setup code here, to run once:
analogReference(INTERNAL); //changing from a 5v reference to a 1.1v reference
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
reading = analogRead(tempPin);
tempC = reading / 9.31;
//Serial.print(tempC);
tempF=tempC * 9/5 + 32;
Serial.println(tempF);
delay(5000);
}
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