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Arduino Issue: Multi Sensor (different ranges) = Multi VReferences?

A project log for Arduino Bicycle Light

Arduino Nano controller 10W LED bicycle light with addressable LED strip, EL wire, temp sensor for LED, voltage sensing for 3.7v LiPo.

scottacranescottacrane 09/14/2016 at 20:580 Comments

Thank your follows. Perhaps one of you could help me with one of my technical issues.

My Multi Sensor Question on Arduino Forum

Here is the text of my problem/question I posted to the above forum:

I'm working on a project requiring more than one analog sensor. A 0v to 1v LM35 temp sensor and since my project is portable and on battery power, the 1S LiPo voltage (approx 3.2v to 4.2v).

So I did some reading on external and internal voltage references and how to use them to obtain more accurate readings (this article was very useful: http://blog.fiftythree.com/posts/measuring-battery-voltage).

I was thinking about using one of the cheap 0.9V-5V to 5V 600mA DC-DC Step-Up Boost Converter boards (they look like: Picture link to power my Arduino from the battery to give me a solid 5 volts. I'm guessing I could also use this as an external voltage reference (into AREF pin). This would then workout nicely for my battery measurements.

But what about the LM35? It wants a lower voltage reference if I want accuracy. Can you switch references (internal/external) and measure each value separately? Or do I need to bring down my LiPo voltage via voltage divider so both use same fixed VRef? (aka lowest common denominator).

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