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controlling voltage in outputs? — Parallax Forums

controlling voltage in outputs?

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2004-05-07 17:20 in General Discussion
This may be a dumb question...My school just purchased a BS2p40. It
takes, or it is recommended, that a 7.5 dc line in be used for
power. If you have motors, lcds, whatever on the output side that
require something different than 7.5 volts, say something less or
even more, how do you tell the bs2p40 what voltage to output and
then to what 1/0's? Besides this, does anyone know if accessories
from makingthings.com are compatible with the bs2p40...for some
reason we have a whole bunch of gizmos from that site delivered to
us. thanks for the help. mark

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-05-07 04:24
    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "sponsitility"
    <markmcleod50@y...> wrote:
    > This may be a dumb question...My school just purchased a BS2p40. It
    > takes, or it is recommended, that a 7.5 dc line in be used for
    > power. If you have motors, lcds, whatever on the output side that
    > require something different than 7.5 volts, say something less or
    > even more, how do you tell the bs2p40 what voltage to output and
    > then to what 1/0's? Besides this, does anyone know if accessories
    > from makingthings.com are compatible with the bs2p40...for some
    > reason we have a whole bunch of gizmos from that site delivered to
    > us. thanks for the help. mark


    Hi Mark,

    The 'control logic' power is 5 volts. period.

    you can send a signal out to a darlington transistor like a PN2222
    and that will act like a switch.

    the 2222 can have 20 volts in on the collector and power your 20 volt
    motor. But, on the base, the control input line, it only needs 5
    volts.

    a MOSFET, around a buck, might be rated for 200 volts, 20 amps, but
    switch on and off from your 5 volt control signal.

    Similarly, an electromechanical relay may operate with 5 volts, but
    the input and output 'power' lines might be 460 volts AC.

    As you will quickly find out, you are limited to the power output or
    current output of each pin and the whole chip. Actually the whole
    chip is less than the mathematical total of all the pins.

    But by using external chips, you can do the same thing we do every
    night Pinky. Try to take over the world!

    Dave
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-05-07 14:18
    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...>
    wrote:
    > --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "sponsitility"
    > <markmcleod50@y...> wrote:
    > > This may be a dumb question...My school just purchased a BS2p40.
    It
    > > takes, or it is recommended, that a 7.5 dc line in be used for
    > > power. If you have motors, lcds, whatever on the output side that
    > > require something different than 7.5 volts, say something less or
    > > even more, how do you tell the bs2p40 what voltage to output and
    > > then to what 1/0's? Besides this, does anyone know if
    accessories
    > > from makingthings.com are compatible with the bs2p40...for some
    > > reason we have a whole bunch of gizmos from that site delivered
    to
    > > us. thanks for the help. mark
    >
    >
    > Hi Mark,
    >
    > The 'control logic' power is 5 volts. period.
    >
    > you can send a signal out to a darlington transistor like a PN2222
    > and that will act like a switch.
    >
    > the 2222 can have 20 volts in on the collector and power your 20
    volt
    > motor. But, on the base, the control input line, it only needs 5
    > volts.
    >
    > a MOSFET, around a buck, might be rated for 200 volts, 20 amps, but
    > switch on and off from your 5 volt control signal.
    >
    > Similarly, an electromechanical relay may operate with 5 volts, but
    > the input and output 'power' lines might be 460 volts AC.
    >
    > As you will quickly find out, you are limited to the power output
    or
    > current output of each pin and the whole chip. Actually the whole
    > chip is less than the mathematical total of all the pins.
    >
    > But by using external chips, you can do the same thing we do every
    > night Pinky. Try to take over the world!
    >
    > Dave

    Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

    "I think so, Brain, but where are we going to
    get rubber pants in our size?"
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-05-07 14:49
    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Allan Lane" <allan.lane@h...>
    wrote:
    > --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...>
    > wrote:
    > > --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "sponsitility"
    > > <markmcleod50@y...> wrote:
    > > > This may be a dumb question...My school just purchased a
    BS2p40.
    > It
    > > > takes, or it is recommended, that a 7.5 dc line in be used for
    > > > power. If you have motors, lcds, whatever on the output side
    that
    > > > require something different than 7.5 volts, say something less
    or
    > > > even more, how do you tell the bs2p40 what voltage to output
    and
    > > > then to what 1/0's? Besides this, does anyone know if
    > accessories
    > > > from makingthings.com are compatible with the bs2p40...for some
    > > > reason we have a whole bunch of gizmos from that site delivered
    > to
    > > > us. thanks for the help. mark
    > >
    > >
    > > Hi Mark,
    > >
    > > The 'control logic' power is 5 volts. period.
    > >
    > > you can send a signal out to a darlington transistor like a
    PN2222
    > > and that will act like a switch.
    > >
    > > the 2222 can have 20 volts in on the collector and power your 20
    > volt
    > > motor. But, on the base, the control input line, it only needs 5
    > > volts.
    > >
    > > a MOSFET, around a buck, might be rated for 200 volts, 20 amps,
    but
    > > switch on and off from your 5 volt control signal.
    > >
    > > Similarly, an electromechanical relay may operate with 5 volts,
    but
    > > the input and output 'power' lines might be 460 volts AC.
    > >
    > > As you will quickly find out, you are limited to the power output
    > or
    > > current output of each pin and the whole chip. Actually the whole
    > > chip is less than the mathematical total of all the pins.
    > >
    > > But by using external chips, you can do the same thing we do
    every
    > > night Pinky. Try to take over the world!
    > >
    > > Dave
    >
    > Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking?
    >
    > "I think so, Brain, but where are we going to
    > get rubber pants in our size?"



    I realized I didn't go the other way.

    If you need to send a really fast pulse, you might set up a single
    shot pulse circuit and with a single output signal, it can make that
    circuit send that pulse.

    or, if you want to send an ultral low value that is contorlled, you
    might signal an op-amp and that will output the low value.

    And the 4066 chip is an analog switch. you can switch analogue
    values to another device without inteferring with the signal.

    So, just like your finger and and a wall light switch, the Stamp
    output does not touch the power in the circuit, but is only the
    signal.

    Dave

    Pinky, Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?
    Well, I think so Brain but if Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why
    does he keep doing it?
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-05-07 17:20
    > This may be a dumb question...My school just purchased a BS2p40. It
    > takes, or it is recommended, that a 7.5 dc line in be used for
    > power. If you have motors, lcds, whatever on the output side that
    > require something different than 7.5 volts, say something less or
    > even more, how do you tell the bs2p40 what voltage to output and
    > then to what 1/0's?

    None of the BS2's can adjust the voltage out of the on chip regulator. Most
    motors and LED's can run off of the unregulated (7.5V DC) power but their
    connection to that power has to be controlled by the BS2. Depending on the
    amount of current require this can be a direct connect (LED? less than 20
    mA), thru a small transistor wo/heatsink (LED arrays or smallest motors,
    usually 1/4 amp or less). A larger transistor with a head sink (up to 1 amp
    motors). Power FET's, Darlington pairs, H-Bridges, etc. (Larger motors) or
    relays (A/C motors).

    The BS2 can only output a binary (0/1, yes/no) output. This can be used to
    turn LED's, motors, etc. on/off. It can also use Pulse Width Modulation
    (PWM) to control the speed of a motor or brightness of an LED. This works by
    toggling the output control pin on/off at a ratio that corresponds to the
    speed/brightness. For example, if you want a LED lit at 90% brightness then
    the PWM output cycles between on 90% of the time and off 10% of the time. It
    does the very fast (thousands of times a second) so that you don't see it
    turning on and off. The LED is just percieved to be 10% dimmer.

    Another form of PWM is servo control. A servo uses the phase of the PWM
    signal to tell the motor to what position to drive the servo. (This a bit of
    an oversimplification, but it's essentially true. ;-)

    > Besides this, does anyone know if accessories
    > from makingthings.com are compatible with the bs2p40...for some
    > reason we have a whole bunch of gizmos from that site delivered to
    > us.

    The main telco board talks to a PeeCee via USB. As far as I know none of the
    BS2's will talk USB. The main board talks to all the other boards via a 250
    kb/s RS-485 connection. While you can probably wire up a BS2 to do RS-485 I
    don't think any of the BS2's can handle 250 kb/s.

    --
    Enjoy,
    George Warner,
    Schizophrenic Optimization Scientists
    Apple Developer Technical Support (DTS)
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