DC Power Supply in Programmable and Digital Form

The objective of the project is to design a DC power supply based on a microcontroller making it cheaper but with a lot more features.

Compared to most other circuits, this bench power supply is less complex. It is small but powerful and a PC can be used to control the power supply completely. The actual measured values for voltage and current is shown by the display as well as the pre-set limits. There is no separate negative supply voltage for operational amplifiers or control logic since only one power source is needed. Also, no special chips are needed because only standard components are used. For automated testing, this power supply is very useful since simple commands can be used to set the current and voltage readings. The desired voltage and maximum current can be entered directly by the available small button pad.

A transistor and a reference voltage generated with a Zener diode are the two basic parts of this electronically stabilized power supply. Even if the input is noisy and fluctuates, the diode and the resistor generate a reference voltage that is stable. The transistor handles higher currents.

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