NI Tutorial 3972 En

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Removing Thermal Offset Errors from Contact, Switch, and Relay Resistance Measurements Tutor

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Overview

Automated test systems are used in industries ranging from semiconductors to communications (cellular phones) to automotive (brake systems). Most of these systems use some kind of switchi

to increase test points. Certain common types of switches can introduce thermal voltage offsets into circuit measurements because of the materials used in their construction. Engineers have

traditionally dealt with this problem by either approximating the error or taking additional measurements. Either method can cause slower test system throughput or increased cost. Newtechnologies are reducing the effect of thermal offset and bringing additional benefits including:

Simplified test sequences and test system architecture

Increased automated test throughput and system utilization, resulting in cost reductions

Increased accuracy, resulting in more correct pass/fail final system verifications

This document will describe the traditional methods and it will describe how to use the FlexDMM Offset Compensated Ohms (OCO) feature to remove thermal offset errors from low-levelNI 4070

contact, switch, and relay resistance measurements. You can also that takes you through this tutorial's material at your own pace.view an interactive presentation

For additional information and more interactive tutorials on the NI 4070, visit the .Digital Multimeter Measurement Tutorial

For product information on NI digital multimeters and switches please see:

National Instruments (DMM) and LCR MeterDigital Multimeter

National Instruments Switches

For related presentations, webcasts and white papers please return to:

Low-Level Measurement Resources

Table of Contents

Low-Level Measurement Setup

Reed Relay Contact Resistance

Case 1: No Compensation

Case 2: Approximated Offset

Case 3: Measured Offset

Case 4: Offset Compensated Ohms (OCO)

Summary

Low-Level Measurement Setup

The best setup for low resistance measurements is the 4-wire setup. A 4-wire setup utilizes four leads, two leads to drive current through a resistance and two leads to measure the voltage drop

across that resistance. Traditional 4-wire measurements require that the power is off in the circuit so that the measured voltage drop is only due to the supplied current. Thus traditionally, the pow

to a circuit must be turned off before any measurements are taken. Figure 1 below illustrates a 4-wire setup. The black-colored leads measure the voltage drop. The blue-colored leads connect th

test current, which is 1 mA in the 100 ohm range.

Figure 1: Digital Multimeter Setup

In every resistance measurement, the digital multimeter must supply a test current, 1 mA in this setup, and then measure the voltage drop across the unit under test. The measured voltage drop

then used in the calculation for resistance, thus its accuracy is very important. This accuracy can be negatively affected by thermal offsets in switches or relays. This tutorial discusses possible

sources of error in four measurement methods.

The four comparison measurement methods are:

No Compensation

Approximated OffsetMeasured Offset

Offset Compensated Ohms (OCO) on the FlexDMMNI 4070

View the interactive presentation

Reed Relay Contact Resistance

A typical contact resistance measurement application is measuring the contact resistance on a relay or switch as shown in Figure 2. A dry reed relay can have a contact resistance between 0.1 a

2 ohms. For this example, we can assume that our relay (R has a resistance of 0.1 ohms.reed relay)

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Figure 2: Reed Relay Contact Resistance Measurement


Case 1: No Compensation

In this reed relay system, the switch lead material has a thermal offset which can affect the accuracy of the measurement. Uncompensated reed relays can have offset voltages greater than 10 uV

caused by the Kovar lead material used at the device glass seal. This offset can dramatically affect a low-level resistance measurement.

The lead material offset is represented in the schematic in Figure 2 by a 10 uV source in-line with the reed relay. Therefore, the measured voltage drop on the digital multimeter will include the

voltage across the reed relay as well as the 10 uV offset. When the reed relays resistance is calculated it will also include the offset, giving an incorrect reading.

The voltage that is measured by the digital multimeter is equal to the offset voltage plus the test current times the resistance of the reed relay. In this case, that measurement would be 10 uV, from

the lead offset, plus 1 mA times the contact resistance of the reed relay. Since the resistance of our reed relay is 0.10 ohms, the measured voltage will be 0.11 mV.

V = Offset Voltage + Test Current x Rmeas reed relay

V = 10 uV + 1 mA x Rmeas reed relay

V = 0.11 mVmeas

The calculated or measured resistance then is equal to the measured voltage divided by the test current. In this case, the measured resistance is 0.11 ohms. This is an error of 10% from the actu

resistance of 0.10 ohms.

R = V / Test Currentmeas meas

R = 0.11 mV / 1 mAmeas

R = 0.11 ohmsmeas

Error = (0.11 ohms - 0.10 ohms) / 0.10 ohms

Error = 10%

This error may be unacceptable in certain applications, and there are various methods to reduce the error.


Case 2: Approximated Offset

To get an accurate resistance measurement, the lead material offset must be removed from the measurement. One way to do this is to approximate the offset error based on the type of junction

your reed relay. A few sample junction types are shown in the table below.

Junction Type Potential EMF

Cu-Kovar 40 uV/C

Cu-Si 400 uV/C

Cu-CuO 1000 uV/C

There are two drawbacks to this type of adjustment. First, an external current excitation source must be used since voltage, not resistance, must be measured. The digital multimeter setup is show

in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3: Digital Multimeter Setup for voltage measurement with external current supply

Second, additional calculations must be done by hand to obtain resistance. The measured voltage would still include the actual offset voltage, but when calculating the resistance, an estimated

offset could be removed. The major disadvantage to this method is that the actual offset will not be known.

V = Offset Voltage + Test Current x Rmeas reed relay

R = (V - Est imated Offset) / Test Currentcalc meas


Case 3: Measured Offset

Another method overcomes this disadvantage, by measuring the actual offset voltage and then taking it out of the resistance calculation. With a traditional digital multimeter the drawbacks includ
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Multiple voltage measurements

An external current excitation source

Additional calculations that must be done by hand

The same reed relay resistance application using the measured offset technique would require the following steps.

Take a voltage measurement with an external current supply (as shown in Figure 3)

Take a second voltage measurement with no current excitation as shown in Figure 4 below. This measurement will effectively measure the offset in the system.

Use the difference of the voltages to calculate resistance

Figure 4: Digital Multimeter Setup for voltage measurement with no current excitation

The calculations for this method are as follows. The voltage drop across the reed relay is again equal to 10 uV, from the lead offset, plus 1 mA times the contact resistance of the reed relay. The

measured voltage of 0.11 mV is the same as in the previous traditional non-compensated measurement.

V = Offset Voltage + Test Current x Rreed relaymeas #1

V = 10 uV + 1 mA x Rmeas #1 reed relay

V = 0.11 mVmeas #1

With the second measurement using the measured offset technique, the 1 mA test current is not used, and so the measured voltage changes. The voltage drop across the relay drops to zero

because no current is flowing through it and thus only the value of the 10 uV offset is measured.

V = Offset Voltagemeas #2

V = 10 uVmeas #2

The difference in the two measured voltages represents the actual voltage drop across the reed relay. This voltage is divided by the test current to calculate an accurate resistance for the reed

relay. Thus any error due to the lead material offset is removed.

V = V - Vcalc meas #1 meas #2

V = 0.11 mV - 10 uVcalc

V = 0.10 mVcalc

R = V / Test Currentmeas calc


R = 0.10 ohmsmeas


Case 4: Offset Compensated Ohms (OCO)

A final method incorporates the accuracy of the measured offset method but maintains the simplicity of the no compensation technique. This method, called Offset Compensated Ohms (OCO) is

available on the FlexDMM. It overcomes the requirements of multiple voltage measurements, external current excitation sources, and additional calculations, yet is still able to measure tNI 4070

actual offset voltage and take it out of the resistance measurement.

Once enabled and without any additional user interaction, Offset Compensated Ohms invokes the NI 4070 FlexDMM to take two resistance measurements, but with the test current source off

during the second measurement. The first measurement includes the voltage drop across the relay and any thermal EMFs that may be present as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: NI 4070 FlexDMM - 1st OCO Measurement with internal excitation ON

During the second measurement the current source is turned off so the voltage drop across the relay becomes zero volts. This second measurement only measures the thermal offset as shown i

Figure 6.

Figure 6: NI 4070 FlexDMM - 2nd OCO measurement with internal excitation OFF
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The NI FlexDMM then subtracts the second measurement from the first to determine the Offset Compensated voltage (V ). This voltage is then used to determine the correct resistance valueOCO

V = V - VOCO meas #1 meas #2

V = 0.11 mV - 10 uVOCO

V = 0.10 mVOCO

R = V / Test Currentmeas OCO


R = 0.10 ohmsmeas


Summary

The chart below is a comparison of the methods to improve the accuracy of low-level, contact resistance measurements including the Offset Compensated Ohms technique on the NI 4070

FlexDMM.

Case 1: No Compensation Case 2: Approximated Offset Case 3: Measured Offset Case 4: Offset Compensated Ohms (OCO)

Number of Measurements 1 1 2 1

External Current Supply No Yes Yes No

Accuracy OK Better Best Best

Possible Error 10% less than 10% Negligible Negligible

Sources of Error No compensation Bad estimate No procedural error No procedural error

Complexity Easy Moderate Difficult Easy (no setup changes)


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