Load Cell vs Pocket Scale

[JosephCondon]

Good day everyone,

I am starting a new hobby in electronics and have mostly just been working on theoretical aspects and haven't started any real projects yet... I have an idea for a project that will require weighing very light objects and have come to the conclusion of requiring a load cell and amplifier.

My question is; how easy would it be to buy an already built pocket scale like the one found in the picture and simply connect that to an Arduino? If it's not that simple, surely is would be possible to make use of the in-built load cell and amplifier as separate components?

I have found pocket scales cheaper than what I can purchase the load cell and amplifier separately, although this is more of a general question rather than relating to trying to save a buck. Generally speaking how easy would it be to buy already built electronics and making use of their components?

Peace Out,
Joseph

 

[kellys_eye]

Have you done an internet search for 'hacks' of that scale? I know that there are many hacks for the digital calipers that engineers use and suspect there may also be at least one to extract the serial data from such a scale.

Here's an example of hacking a kitchen scale to give you some idea:

https://www.gadgetmakersblog.com/hacking-kitchen-scale/