Most MaxBotix Inc. products include an Analog Voltage output option. Our standard Analog Voltage output is a Single-ended voltage referenced to ground and Vcc. Different sensors will have different scale factors between range and output voltage. Those scale factors are listed below. See your sensors datasheet for information on the scale factor.

Analog Voltage is the simplest output to measure. Most Microcontrollers can easily measure these signals using their integrated ADCs. Additionally, the signals can be measured using a standard multimeter for bench testing. The drawback of analog voltage is that it is less accurate than other output types. The analog nature of this output means that it is more susceptible to electrical interference particularlly when used with long wires, or near high power electrical machinery.

Another thing to keep in mind when using the analog voltage output is that it scales linearly with the power supply voltage to the sensor Any variation in the supply voltage will be reflected on the analog voltage as well. For example, if a MB1200 is trying to report 121cm the output will voltage will depend on the supply voltage. At 5 Volts we would get 590 millivolts, but at 3.3 Volts we would get 389 millivolts.