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Original question:

[FAQ] DRV5057: How do I use the Magnetic Sensing Proximity Tool for slide-by sensing?

DRV5057: Magnet Sensing Proximity tool Rev6 simulation materials error

Chris Comparey
Prodigy 30 points
Part Number: DRV5057

Hello,.

To see if this sensor is usable for my application I am trying to use the magnet sensing proximity tool to simulate a slide by movement of a cylindrical magnet.

My scenario is almost identical to this https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors-group/sensors/f/sensors-forum/1068626/faq-drv5057-how-do-i-use-the-magnetic-sensing-proximity-tool-for-slide-by-sensing just with slightly different dimensions and magnet material.

I fill out all of the info in the proximity tool xls, and when I click calculate B-Field and Vout button the FEMM program opens but I always get the same error message saying "Incorrect simulation constructed: error: properties have not been defined for all regions. please fix the mesh manually THEN press OK to continue, or cancel to stop the simulation"
I have tried playing around with the femm program which opens, I click properties and materials, and everything looks fine to me (but I am totally inexperienced with this software so  not sure)
I click run mesh generator, and it says it creates a mesh with 3773 notes and grey mesh lines denote regions that have no block label, but i see no grey mesh lines...
when I click the run analysis button it tells me again there are missing material properties and I should run the mesh generator to highlight the error, I run the mesh generator which tells me again that it created the nodes and grey mesh lines have no block label, but I see no grey lines so I am stuck in an infinite loop... If I click view results it says it doesn't find the .ans file, probably because I cant run the simulation because I cant find the grey errors.

If i save .fem file in femm and go back to the xls and press OK. I get runtime error 13

So yeah, It seems like its some sort of error with the input to the femm software, or I just cant find what is wrong. But seeing as TI made this tool using this femm software maybe someone else came across the same issue.

Here are some screenshots of the errors, I cant find a way to upload the .fem file from the femm program.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
Chris Comparey

  • +1
    TI__Mastermind 25045 points

    Hey Chris,

    I think the issue is that you are using german numerical notation.  When you write "30,000", we write "30.000".  While we have code that adjusts the format within the diagrams in the excel picture, this notation I don't think gets properly adjusted for the expected notation format to be used in femm.  You might be able to get the program to run if you modify your system separators as shown below in the excel options menu.

    However, in case that does not work for you, I did run the simulation with your conditions:

    I then made some modifications so you will get more of the possible pwm range.

  • 0 in reply to Patrick Simmons
    Prodigy 30 points

    Great Thanks, Unfortunately for my project I cant get the sensor 6mm away for a slide by, but now I can play around with some other possibilities (I can get the sensor closer with a head on movement) now that I have the tool working :)