SoftPot Hookup Guide

Contributors: jimblom

Example Circuit

By supplying a voltage to the outer pins of the SoftPot, we can generate a variable voltage on the middle wiper pin. Here's an example hookup:

A 10kΩ resistor between the wiper and ground pulls the SoftPot's analog output signal down. This ensures that the sensor's output value doesn't "float" -- a term we use when the voltage of a signal is bouncing around with no real certainty.

By connecting pin 1 to ground and pin 3 to 5V, we cause the voltage on the middle pin to rise from 0V to 5V as the wiper moves from the bottom of the softpot (towards the terminals) to the top. Reversing the power supply can swap that relationship around.