If you happen to’d like to check energy provide or battery capabilities, a method is to make use of a excessive wattage resistor and monitor the output. Whereas this works, it solely lets you use one particular load with out {hardware} modifications. Alternatively, you should use an adjustable load to check your machine beneath totally different circumstances.
Technoblogy’s David Johnson-Davies wanted simply such a setup for 2 tasks he was engaged on, and relatively than shopping for an adjustable load, he constructed one himself. The design is predicated on his beforehand breadboarded adjustable load circuit, which was misplaced to the ravages of time, i.e. disassembled.
This iteration is properly built-in right into a printed circuit board. Right here he thought of upgrading to a 0-series ATtiny from the ATiny84, and/or an OLED from the LED show initially used, however determined to as an alternative stick together with his confirmed design.
The circuit options an LT3080 regulator to manage present move, which might function right down to 1.5V and some mA. A separate battery from the availability beneath take a look at powers the equipment, which allows it to check right down to 1V, and provide the microcontroller even when the examined present drops to zero.
Load present is ready through a potentiometer, proven on the seven-segment LED show by the ATtiny84A microcontroller. When a battery beneath take a look at now not provides present, this show then switches to exhibiting the battery capability.
Code and board recordsdata are linked within the Technoblogy submit, together with a elements checklist. There’s additionally a bit about testing two comparable, however differently-labeled, batteries to see in the event that they stay as much as their specs. The reply could (or could not) shock you!
