A digital thermometer can be easily made by interfacing a temperature sensor to the

microcontroller AT89C51.

The temperature sensor used in the project isLM35.
The operating temperature range is from -55C to 150C. The output voltage varies by 10mV in response to every
o
C
rise/fall in ambient temperature, i.e., its scale factor is 0.01V/
o
C. The Output of the temperature sensor is
analog in nature

so we need an analog to digital convertor for converting the analog input to its equivalent binary
output. The ADC 0804is the analog to digital convertor IC used in the project. 0804 is a single
channel convertor which converts the analog input up to a range of 5V to an equivalent 8-bit
binary output.


Once the ADC is calibrated it will give the correct output further. The binary output of ADC is fed
parallel to a port of the microcontroller . AT89C51. The microcontroller reads the input through
ADC and
displays the corresponding decimal value on LCDindicating the temperature.
LCDs are economical; easily programmable; have no limitation of displaying special & even custom
characters (unlike in seven segments), animations and so on.

A 16x2 LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and there are 2 such lines. In this LCD each character is
displayed in 5x7 pixel matrix. This LCD has two registers, namely, Command and Data.
The command register stores the command instructions given to the LCD. A command is an instruction given to LCD
to do a predefined task like initializing it, clearing its screen, setting the cursor position, controlling display etc. The
data register stores the data to be displayed on the LCD. The data is the ASCII value of the character to be displayed
on the LCD. Click to learn more about internal structure of a LCD.


Cystal oscillatorof 11.059 MHz used to provide accurate and precise time pulse. Crystal also
generates clock pulses so that all the internal operation are synchronized
PRESET-
A preset is a three legged electronic component which can be made to offer varying resistance in a
circuit. The resistance is varied by adjusting the rotary control over it. The adjustment can be done by
using a small screw driver or a similar tool. The resistance does not vary linearly but rather varies in
exponential or logarithmic manner. Such variable resistors are commonly used for adjusting sensitivity
along with a sensor.

The variable resistance is obtained across the single terminal at front and one of the two other terminals.
The two legs at back offer fixed resistance which is divided by the front leg. So whenever only the back
terminals are used, a preset acts as a fixed resistor. Presets are specified by their fixed value resistance.










LM
35


ADC
0804
A
T
8
9
C
5
1
LCD 16X2
HD44780