The PT 100 is one of the most popular industrial sensors that can be found in cars, airplanes, airconditioning systems, washing machines, laboratories etc.

It changes resistance with the temperature and usually has a sensitivity of 0.385 Ohms/deg C and a resistance of 100Ohms at 0 deg C.

During software and hardware development, it is important to simulate the behaviour of real sensor inputs accurately. This simplifies software testing and decrease the number of board-sprints.

Resistive sensors are harder to simulate than voltage or current-based sensors since it is easier to control a voltage than to alter the resistance of a passive load. Most software controlled resistors also have a narrow operating range.

The WF 3144 from WireFlow is a versatile 4 channel programmable resistor which has a wide range and good resolution. It can be used for PT100 simulation with a Compact-RIO controller.

If you want to learn more about how to simulate resistance sensors with the WF 3144, read our application note “PT100 Resistance Thermometer Simulator” and download our example code.

Application note: AB0005-085 AN9 PT100 Simulator

Example project: AB0005-086 AN9 PT100 Simulator Examples

Product page: WF 3144