Specialized Capacitor Meter for a Portable, Low Cost Electronics Education Laboratory

Subhi Qutob, Ming Foey Teng, Aji Prasetya Wibawa

Abstract: This work introduces portable-low-cost laboratory suite for electronics analysis and education, known as the Pro-Lab, which includes a variable power supply, function generators, multimeter, and oscilloscope. The Pro-Lab is built around a microcontroller and includes an LCD screen and controls in which users can intuitively switch between the different modes the device provides. It is a versatile tool that expands the possibilities for electronics experiments and projects by making high-quality measurement equipment accessible to a wider audience. This paper describes the design and implementation of the specialized capacitor meter: a minimal low-cost microcontroller-based capacitor measurement device, which is part of the development of the Pro-Lab. The specialized capacitor meter can measure the capacitance of capacitors from 40pF to 4mF with a 2% accuracy with a very quick measurement time. The specialized capacitor meter was implemented on an Arduino Uno and involves a circuit with only three resistors, its mode of operation involves algorithmically connecting and disconnecting each resistor in the circuit and determining the time constant. The use of such an algorithm allows for the capacitor to be measured precisely in a very short amount of time. The specialized capacitor meter outperforms LCR-meter and LC-meter based capacitance meters in terms of measurement speed and accuracy.