SunSPec 5 - Telemetry System

Week 3 We have finished testing the optoisolator through a different simpler circuit as of the previous one we did. Instead of trying to read the digital signal being sent through, we decided to test if the signal sent through can power up a LED connected on the HV side and be controlled from the LV side. Figure 1: Optocoupler circuit As seen from above, the LED is on and powered by the signal sent from the LV side, if we were to off the switch at the LV side, the LED at the HV side will turn off. What we are basically doing is using the signal to control our LED. We don't have a bigger load at the moment as the only motor we found isn't working. Once we have a bigger load than a LED, we will most probably test it and try to see if we can control it using a microprocessor instead of a simple switch.  We found out from Mr. Kenny, the main purpose of the optoisolator is to separate the ground of HV e.g. the Battery and the Arduino in the SunSPec, and that we a...

Week 2 - Small Update The optocoupler circuit is being tested as of right now using a simple circuit (pics of circuit and code to come later being edited). The optocoupler or opto-isolator works by the opto-isolator IC sending a signal from a Low Voltage (LV) circuit to the High Voltage (HV) circuit.  This allows isolation between the two circuits as connecting a HV ground with a LV circuit will result in damage to the LV circuit, so the opto-isolator is essential to avoid damage and burning of the Arduino when we test it with HV circuits later on. The optocoupler is normally used in applications such as allowing a microcontroller to control servos or other motors that use a higher voltage than the TTL logic on the (3.3V or 5V) microcontroller. Source: http://www.sgbotic.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=402 We tested the optocoupler using a DC power supply, a simple breadboard circuit, and Arduino to verify the signal sent from a LV circuit to a HV...