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Op Amp Circuit design...help !

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Liu.ChenH@gmail.com - 29 Jul 2008 05:04 GMT
Hi,

I am trying to come up with a design of an operational Amplifier
circuit design which will provide an output voltage C = 2A + 3B, where
A and B are time varying input voltages....

I would greatly appreciate any help on this !!
Antonio Perez - 29 Jul 2008 06:15 GMT
Liu.ChenH@gmail.com Liu.ChenH@gmail.com wrote previously in
alt.engineering.electrical:

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> I would greatly appreciate any help on this !!

It's called a summing amplifier

Read here:
http://www.ecircuitcenter.com/Circuits/opsum/opsum.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_amplifier_applications
Liu.ChenH@gmail.com - 29 Jul 2008 13:36 GMT
Yes,.. It is a summing amplifier. But I need the C to be positive.

> Liu.Ch...@gmail.com Liu.Ch...@gmail.com wrote previously in
> alt.engineering.electrical:
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Read here:http://www.ecircuitcenter.com/Circuits/opsum/opsum.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wi
ki/Operational_amplifier_applications
Bryce - 29 Jul 2008 14:49 GMT
> Yes,.. It is a summing amplifier. But I need the C to be positive.
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>> http://www.ecircuitcenter.com/Circuits/opsum/opsum.htm 
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_amplifier_applications 

Solution without inspiration: add an inverting amplifier after the summer.

Solution with inspiration: combine the concepts of the summing amplifier
and non-inverting amplifier.  Textbooks usually show summing only into
the inverting input, but you can sum into the non-inverting input instead
(or even sum into both inputs at once).  You can achieve C = 2A + 3B with
one opamp.
Liu.ChenH@gmail.com - 29 Jul 2008 22:26 GMT
This is the the design I came up w/ according to the textbooks -- non-
inverting summer.
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth881f/OpAmp.JPG

Where Vi1 = A , Vi2 = B and Vo = C

However, I do not know what possible values should be the
resistances...

> Liu.Ch...@gmail.com wrote:
> > Yes,.. It is a summing amplifier. But I need the C to be positive.
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> (or even sum into both inputs at once).  You can achieve C = 2A + 3B with
> one opamp.
Bryce - 30 Jul 2008 00:50 GMT
> This is the the design I came up w/ according to the textbooks -- non-
> inverting summer.
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
>> (or even sum into both inputs at once).  You can achieve C = 2A + 3B with
>> one opamp.

Good job!  I'm glad you chose inspiration.

Time to use what we know about an ideal opamp:

1.  The differential input voltage is zero.
2.  Neither input draws or supplies any current.

Write an equation for V0 when V2 = 0 (shorted).  Write another
equation for V0 when V1 = 0.  Superposition is valid for this
linear circuit, so the total output V0 is the sum of the two
output voltages you just found.  The rest is algebra.

For an ideal amplifier, the input offset current is zero so
resistor can be eliminated.  In that case, the resistances
could be 1, 2, 3, and 4 to achieve C = 2A + B.
Bryce - 30 Jul 2008 13:26 GMT
>> This is the the design I came up w/ according to the textbooks -- non-
>> inverting summer.
[quoted text clipped - 49 lines]
> resistor can be eliminated.  In that case, the resistances
> could be 1, 2, 3, and 4 to achieve C = 2A + B.

AAAargh! That SHOULD say "resistor R3 can be eliminated".
Jillian Lewis - 30 Jul 2008 16:19 GMT
I am another student trying to obtain this Op Amp Circuit and saw your
post as I was posting on google. I am not getting the correct answer
when doing the algebra from your steps. Is there any way you can post
this or also further explain how those resistances achieve C=2A + B?
I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
Bryce - 30 Jul 2008 19:56 GMT
> I am another student trying to obtain this Op Amp Circuit and saw your
> post as I was posting on google. I am not getting the correct answer
> when doing the algebra from your steps. Is there any way you can post
> this or also further explain how those resistances achieve C=2A + B?
> I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Original poster needed C = 2A + 3B.  That's what I designed.  Alas, my
usenet message proofreader is on vacation.  Thanks for straightening me
out.
Phil Hobbs - 30 Jul 2008 21:08 GMT
>>> This is the the design I came up w/ according to the textbooks -- non-
>>> inverting summer.
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
>
> AAAargh! That SHOULD say "resistor R3 can be eliminated".

PMJI.  The difference between summing at the + and - inputs is that
feedback keeps the - input reasonably still, which prevents the inputs
from talking to each other.  (If you move the + input around, the +
signals will also talk to the - signals).  Some sources don't mind that,
but others do--you can get all sorts of nasty intermodulation and so on.

If the circuit needs to be used with different sources, I'd spend
another dime and use a dual op amp.  Sum the + signals in the first amp,
and send its output into the (-) input of the second amp, along with the
 - signals.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs
krw - 31 Jul 2008 00:57 GMT
> >>> This is the the design I came up w/ according to the textbooks -- non-
> >>> inverting summer.
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> >> 1.  The differential input voltage is zero.
> >> 2.  Neither input draws or supplies any current.
3. The differential gain is infinite.

> >> Write an equation for V0 when V2 = 0 (shorted).  Write another
> >> equation for V0 when V1 = 0.  Superposition is valid for this
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> and send its output into the (-) input of the second amp, along with the
>   - signals.

Also need a reference or bipolar supplies (with ground being the
reference).

Signature

Keith

Dave Martindale - 30 Jul 2008 20:01 GMT
>Solution without inspiration: add an inverting amplifier after the summer.

>Solution with inspiration: combine the concepts of the summing amplifier
>and non-inverting amplifier.  Textbooks usually show summing only into
>the inverting input, but you can sum into the non-inverting input instead
>(or even sum into both inputs at once).  You can achieve C = 2A + 3B with
>one opamp.

Hmm.  As I understand it, one advantage of the inverting summer
configuration is that the summing node (the inverting input) is actively
held at ground voltage, so each of the individual inputs sees a
resistive load to ground (just the input resistor) which does not change
with input voltage on that input, and it also unaffected by the voltage
on any of the other inputs.

It seems that with the circuit layout you're suggesting, the summing
node voltage will vary in proportion to the output voltage (i.e. the sum
being calculated).  Thus the current in each input resistor will depend
on the state of the other inputs, and the apparent input impedance will
vary between infinity (with all inputs at equal voltage) and a value
somewhat lower than the individual input resistors.

Now, if the inputs are actually coming from voltage sources (e.g. other
opamp outputs, the varying input impedance wouldn't matter, and you
would get the summed value that you wanted.  But if the sources have
their own finite impedance, how does the unpredictable input impedance
of the summer affect the result?  You could always avoid this by adding
a buffer between each input and the summer input resisters, but an extra
opamp for each input is now more complex than an inverting summer plus
one extra opamp to invert its output.

    Dave
    (not a student or an EE, but an electronics hobbyist)
 
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