“This Instructable describes how to make a small weighing scale using readily available off the shelf parts.
Materials needed:
1. Arduino - this design uses a standard Arduino Uno, other Arduino versions or clones should work also
2. HX711 on breakout board - This microchip is specially made for amplifying the signals from load cells and reporting them to another mircocontroller. The load cells plug into this board, and this board tells the Arduino what the load cells measure.
3. 5kg load cell - Load cells are specially shaped metal parts that have strain gauges glue to them. The strain gauges are resistors that change their resitance when they are bent. When the metal part bends, the resistance of the load cell changes (the HX711 measures this small change in resistance accurately). You can buy both the HX711 and load cell here: https://www.amazon.com/Degraw-Load-Cell-HX711-Combo/dp/B075317R45/
4. Sturdy flat mounting surface (x2) - a stiff piece of hardwood or metal is ideal.
5. Wires in various colors for connecting all the parts
6. Power supply for Arduino”