EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Using the updated Arduino 1-Wire library code presented here, you can eliminate the need for an external pull-up resistor for typical small networks of DS18B20 temperature sensors. This should also work with any AVR processor and other types of 1-Wire devices as well. You can download the updated 1-Wire library here…
https://github.com/bigjosh/OneWireNoResistor/archive/master.zip
The mythical “required” external pull-up
From the DS18B20 Data Sheet
If you’ve ever used the ubiquitous (and amazingly useful!) DS18B20 family of 1-Wire temperature sensors, you’ve almost certainly used a 4.7K ohm pull-up resistor as well. Every one of the seemingly endless Arduino DS18B20 tutorials on the web starts with some version of the line “You will not be able to do anything with this senor until you go out and procure yourself a 4.7K ohm resistor”. AdaFruit is even generous enough to include one of these resistors with every DS18B20-based temperature sensor they sell (be it bare, waterproof, and hi-temp) because they know you are going to need it.
I am here to tell you that everything is about to change. If you were banking on your stockpiles of 4.7K ohm resistors to be the one reliable store of value in these uncertain times, you need to rethink your long-term asset preservation strategy because the decade-long run of stable demand for this part is about to plummet. Yes – it is now possible to connect DS18B20 sensors without any external pull-up resistor at all!
Outrageous claims demand outrageous proof, so let’s start with a brief demo that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is not just a cockamamie theory, but cold hard fact…
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