LCR meter
This application will turn your Red Pitaya board into an affordable LCR meter. It is the perfect tool for educators, students, makers, hobbyists and professionals seeking affordable, highly functional test and measurement equipment. Resistors, capacitors and inductors are basic components of all electrical circuits, and working on your projects you will definitely need to measure some components laying around on your working bench. The Red Pitaya LCR meter will enable you to do that quickly and accurately just by switching from one application to another. Note: To use the LCR meter application an additional extension module is needed. The LCR meter extension module is available on our online store. All Red Pitaya applications are web-based and don’t require the installation of any native software. Users can access them via a browser using their smartphone, tablet or a PC running any popular operating system (Mac, Linux, Windows, Android and iOS). The elements on the LCR meter application are arranged logically and offer a familiar user interface similar to bench LCR meters.
The graphical interface is divided into six main areas:
- Hold/Run button: It is used to start and stop measuring. Log data button. When selected, the measurements of parameters selected in the “Data options” field are logged in the table shown in area 6.
- Data options panel: It is used to select the desired parameter for which the measurement will be displayed in the main display panel shown in area 4.
- Measurement option panel: It is used to select a measuring frequency, range mode and range value. The user can select between the Parallel and Series measuring modes as well as between the Tolerance, Relative or Normal modes (modes described in the features section)
- Main display: In this panel the measurements of the parameter selected in “Data option” field are shown. The primary parameter is shown with a larger font and the secondary parameter with a smaller one. This is a very common practice, since by reading values from the display the user can automatically see the most important results.
- Secondary display: The main settings are shown on the secondary display: current selected parameters, measuring frequency and range mode. The min, max and average values or primary parameters are also shown.
- Logging table: Is used to log and export measured data. Logging is started by selecting the “Log data” button.
- Option buttons field: This is used to change the data in the table. The “Clear Min/Max” button will reset the min and max values in the secondary display.
| STEMlab 125 – 10 | STEMlab 125 – 14 | SIGNALlab 250 – 12 |
Measured primary parameters | Z, L, C, R | Z, L, C, R | Z, L, C, R |
Measured secondary parameters | P, D, Q, E | P, D, Q, E | P, D, Q, E |
Selectable frequencies | 100Hz, 1kHz, 10kHz, 100kHz | 100Hz, 1kHz, 10kHz, 100kHz | 100Hz, 1kHz, 10kHz, 100kHz |
Impedance range | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm |
DC bias | 0.5 V | 0.5 V | 0.5 V |
Basic accuracy | 5,00% | 1,00% | 1,00% |
Max input voltage | 0.5Vpp | 0.5Vpp | 0.5Vpp |
Input protection | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Parameter range Z | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm |
Parameter range Rs, Rp | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm | 1 Ohm-10 MOhm |
Parameter range Ls, Lp | 100nH-1000 H | 100nH-1000 H | 100nH-1000 H |
Parameter range Cs, Cp | 10pF – 100 mF | 10pF – 100 mF | 10pF – 100 mF |
Parameter range P | +/- 180 deg | +/- 180 deg | +/- 180 deg |
The main features of the LCR meter applications are described below:
MEASURED PRIMARY PARAMETERS: Z, L, C, R
The LCR meter application will enable you to measure the basic parameters of the passive electrical components: R – resistance, C – capacitance, L – inductance and Z – impedance.
MEASURED SECONDARY PARAMETERS: P, D, Q, E
In addition to the main parameters, the secondary parameters are also measured and calculated. These parameters are commonly used in describing the properties and quality of the passive components. P – phase of the impedance (phase between current and voltage on measured component), D – dissipation factor (often used to quantify the quality of the capacitor), Q – quality factor (often used to quantify the quality of the inductor), ESR – equivalent series resistance
SELECTABLE FREQUENCIES: 100HZ, 1KHZ, 10KHZ, 100KHZ
The LCR meter enables measurements at four different frequencies (100Hz, 1kHz, 10kHz, 100kHz). The user can select the desired frequency and the LCR application will use sine signals with the selected frequency to measure the impedance.
RANGE MODES: AUTO, MANUAL
Since the measured values are unknown, the LCR meter will adjust the measuring range to provide the best accuracy. If the user has some idea of the measured values, then the Manual mode can be used to set a range.
- Measurements modes: Tolerance, Relative, Normal The “Tolerance” and “Relative” buttons are used for measuring in the Tolerance and Relative modes. When deselected, the LCR meter measures in the Normal mode.
- Tolerance mode: the last value measured before clicking the Tolerance button is saved and used to calculate the percentage difference between the new value and the saved one.
- Relative mode: the last value measured before clicking the Relative button is saved and used to calculate relative difference between the new value and the saved one.
- Equivalent parameters calculation circuit: The Parallel and Series measuring modes refer to using the Series or Parallel equivalent circuit for the parameters (R, C, L…), as calculated from the measured Impedance Z *. The LCR meter will only measure Z as the complex value Z=|Z|e^(jP), where P is the measured phase and |Z| is the impedance amplitude. All other parameters are calculated from the Series or the Parallel equivalent circuit.
- Export of measured data in .csv format
- Min, max, average measurements
- 1,000 logging points
SHOP PRODUCTS
Development tools
The platform software is Open Source and available on Github. Device functionalities and data can be accessed through Matlab, Labview, Scilab and Python API’s.
LabView
Control STEMlab with LabVIEW - software designed for the fast development of any engineering application that requires test, measurement, or control.
MATLAB
Control your Red Pitaya with MATLAB - the easiest and most productive software environment for engineers and scientists. Perfect combination to speed up your research, prototyping and testing.
Jupyter / python
Jupyter notebooks is an open-source web application that combines live Python code, equations, visualizations, dashboards with real time graphs, dials, meters, sliders, buttons and explanatory text.
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