Testing and application of an integrated fluxgate sensor DRV425

Abstract

The article presents testing of a miniature fluxgate sensor developed and manufactured by Texas Instruments as well as an application of the sensor in a compact magnetic field probe with USB interface and LabView based software. Several basic properties of the sensor were evaluated and compared with the datasheet specifications. Offset stability measurements have indicated some possible problems for applications that require very high DC and low-frequency precision. Jumps in offset were present for some of the devices, frequency and duty of the jumps varying between individual pieces and with respect to the supply voltage. Magnetic probe for fast and handy measurements of DC and AC (up to 30 kHz) magnetic fields (up to ±1 mT) is also presented. The probe contains 24-bit analog to digital converter, microcontroller and high-speed USB interface which allows a live view of the signal in time and spectral charts. The probe proved to be very useful for the DRV425 debugging, application development, EMC measurements and magnetic field demonstrations activities.