DC Power Supply Based on Microcontroller

Overview

This project aims to build a DC power supply that will be controlled by a microcontroller and features an LCD display and the use of Linux computer to send commands via RS232 interface.

Explanation

The power supply is very robust and reliable but learning from the generation of analog DC voltage with a microcontroller without using a D/A converter chip makes it more interesting. It comes in 3 variants except for the transformer and one resistor which require a modification in the software. The additional 9V, 100mA transformer for the power to the main board is still required in all 3 cases.

Two parts divide the circuit where one is the main part and one part to be positioned near the power transistors. The few parts in the high power part of the power supply can be mounted on a standard prototyping boards. The main board and the power part are connected through wires. One of the logical parts in the design is the current control and the other is the voltage control. The voltage control loop controls the output voltage according to the voltage level that it gets on Pin5 of IC.