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Feature Article
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Issue #206 September
2007
Smart Power
An Intelligent Power Supply for Embedded Systems
by Alexander Popov & Jordan Popov
Start | Hardware | Software | Calibration | Voltage Presets | Slowly Rising Voltage | Slowly Falling Voltage | Short Time Test | Periodcal Linear Voltage | Periodical Voltage Drops | Future Development | Sources & PDF
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
You’ll find this power supply useful, especially if you put it in a case and include a nice front panel. If you need additional features, keep in mind that the feature-rich Butterfly provides many possibilities for expanding the device. You can easily add the features you need.
One useful expansion is to use RS-232 communication to the PC for configuring and displaying results of measurement. You can send a snapshot of the current drawn during startup via the RS-232 for display and analysis. You can also use the clock and data functions from the original AVR Butterfly demonstration code.
The calibration process can be made easier, avoiding reprogramming the device several times, by storing the constants in E2PROM and providing a menu system for their adjustment. The EEPROM can also be used to store the last used configurations of the presets.
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