Lecture 44-45

Instrumentation
Amplifiers & 555 Timers
Contents
• Instrumentation Amplifiers
• Multivibrator
• 555 Timer – Pin Diagram
• 555 Timer – Monostable Mode
• 555 Timer – Bistable Mode
• 555 Timer – Astable Mode
• Numerical Examples
Instrumentation Amplifiers
• Instrumentation amplifiers are specialized operational amplifiers
designed for precise signal amplification in measurement and
instrumentation applications.
• Instrumentation amplifiers find applications in various fields, including:
• Medical instrumentation (ECG, EEG,EMG),
• Industrial process control (Temperature and pressure sensing and amplification, Flow rate and
level measurements),
• Audio Signal Processing (for high-quality audio amplification) etc.
• An instrumentation amplifier allows an engineer to adjust/control the
overall voltage gain controlled by adjusting the value of resistor Rgain,
without having to change more than one resistor value.
Instrumentation amplifiers
• There are 3 operational amplifiers in the circuit of an Instrumentation Amplifier. The op-amps 1 &
2 are non-inverting amplifiers and op-amp 3 is a difference amplifier.
• Let the outputs of op-amp 1 and op-amp 2 be Vo1 and Vo2 respectively.
• Instrumentation amplifier’s final output Vout is the amplified difference of the input signals
applied to the input terminals of op-amp 3.

The overall gain of the amplifier is given by :

 Multivibrator
• A Multivibrator is an electronic circuit that generates square, rectangular,
pulse waveforms, also called nonlinear oscillators or function generators.
• IC555 can be used as astable, monostable or bistable multivibrator.
Type Description Application
Astable Circuit is not stable in either state— Oscillators
Multivibrator it continuously oscillates from one
state to the other
Monostable One of the state is stable but the Timer
Multivibrator other is not.
Bistable Circuit is stable in both the state Flip flop
Multivibrator and will remain in either state
indefinitely. The circuit can be
flipped from one state to the other
by an external event or trigger.
 555 Timer Why its called 555?

Pin Diagram

The 555 timer chip is extremely robust and stable

8-pin device

 The 555 Timers name comes from the fact that there are three 5kΩ resistors connected together
internally producing a voltage divider network between the supply voltage at pin 8 and ground pin.
 The 3 internally connected 5kΩ resistors are used to generate the two comparators reference voltages.
 The voltage across the series resistive network holds
 the negative inverting input of comparator two at 2/3Vcc and
 the positive non-inverting input to comparator one at 1/3Vcc.
 555 Timer
Monostable Mode
• Monostable mode is also known
as single shot mode.
• It is used in generating pulses, time
delay etc.
• An RC timing network is used to
produce the desired output pulse
• Output time delay = 1.1 R1C1
555 Timer
Monostable Mode
Example No1
Q. A Monostable 555 Timer is required to produce a time delay within a
circuit. If a 10uF timing capacitor is used, calculate the value of the
resistor required to produce a minimum output time delay of 500ms.
• Ans. 500ms is the same as saying 0.5s so by rearranging the formula
above, we get the calculated value for the resistor, R as:
555 Timer
Bistable Mode
• The 555 Bistable is one of the simplest circuits
we can build using the 555 timer oscillator chip.
• Bistable mode is also known as flip-flop mode.
It is used in automatic switching applications, to
generate pulse of variable time etc.
• The bistable configuration does not use
any RC timing network to produce an output
waveform.
• Thus no equations are required to calculate the
time period of the circuit.
• The switching of the output pulse is achieved
by controlling the trigger and reset inputs of
the 555 timer.
555 Timer
Bistable Mode
• By taking the trigger input (pin 2) “LOW”, switch in set position, changes
the output state into the “HIGH”.
• By taking the reset input (pin 4) “LOW”, switch in reset position, changes
the output state into the “LOW”.
• This 555 timer circuit will remain in either state indefinitely and is
therefore bistable. The Bistable 555 timer is stable in both states,
“HIGH” and “LOW”.
 555 Timer
Astable Mode
• Astable mode is also known as self triggering or free
running mode.
• It has no stable state. It has two quasi stable states that
automatically changes from one to another.
• This mode is used to generate square wave oscillations, clock
pulse, PWM wave etc.
• Pin 2 and Pin 6 are connected together allowing the circuit to
re-trigger itself on each and every cycle allowing it to operate
as a free running oscillator.
• During each cycle capacitor, C1 charges up through both
timing resistors, R1 and R2 but discharges itself only through
resistor, R2 as the other side of R2 is connected to
the discharge terminal, pin 7.
555 Timer
Astable Mode
Astable 555 Oscillator Charge and Discharge Times:
• When connected as an astable multivibrator, the output from the 555 Oscillator will
continue indefinitely charging and discharging between 2/3Vcc and 1/3Vcc until the power
supply is removed.
• As with the monostable multivibrator these charge and discharge times and therefore the
frequency are independent on the supply voltage.
• The duration of one full timing cycle is therefore equal to the sum of the two individual
times that the capacitor charges and discharges added together and is given as:
555 Timer
Astable Mode
• Output Frequency. The output frequency of oscillations can be found
by inverting the equation above for the total cycle time giving the
equation for the output frequency of an Astable 555 Oscillator as:
555 Timer
Astable Mode
• Duty Cycle. By altering the time constant of just one of
the RC combinations, the Duty Cycle better known as the of the
output waveform can be accurately set and is given as the ratio of
resistor R2 to resistor R1. The Duty Cycle for the 555 Oscillator, which
is the ratio of the “ON” time divided by the “OFF” time is given by:
 555 Timer
Astable Mode
Example No1
• An Astable 555 Oscillator is constructed using the following
components, R1 = 1kΩ, R2 = 2kΩ and capacitor C = 10uF.
• Calculate the output frequency from the 555 oscillator and the duty
cycle of the output waveform.
t1 – capacitor charge “ON” time is calculated as:
t2 – capacitor discharge “OFF” time is calculated as:

Total periodic time ( T ) is therefore calculated as:

555 Timer
Astable Mode
• The output frequency, ƒ is therefore given as:

Giving a duty cycle value of:

555 Timer
Applications
• one-shot or delay timers
• pulse generation
• LED and lamp flashers
• alarms and tone generation
• logic clocks
• frequency division
• power supplies and
• converters etc
In fact any circuit that requires some form of time control as the list is endless.
Thank You