CIGRE Session 2016, Level 1, Booth 140: Software for Smarter Grids

COPA-DATA, the international developer of the zenon software, is presenting its newest solutions for substation automation and substation HMI at the CIGRE Session in Paris, from August 21-26, 2016. JS automation and COPA-DATA will jointly demonstrate the numerous possibilities of the software system for developing individual and ergonomic solutions within modern Smart Grids.

The CIGRE Session 2016 is bringing experts from the energy industry together in Paris, with participants coming in from over 90 countries. COPA-DATA has been offering its HMI/SCADA software in this environment for many years andcontinues to bring new innovative concepts for improved overview, safety and ergonomics in power plant and substation monitoring. The in-house designed drivers guarantee adherence to international standards such as IEC 61850 Edition 2, IEC 61400-25, IEC 60870 and DNP3.

At booth 140, on the first exhibition level, COPA-DATA and JS automation will introduce new highlights on the subject of Automated Engineering and the newest Command Sequencer zenon module for configuring complex command sequences even without PLC programming.

Command Sequencer

The Command Sequencer is a new zenon module that can be used to configure, test and execute command sequences. The command sequences for the automation of substations are configured in an editor with excellent usability. The individual commands also known as steps, are simply lined up together graphically. Testing is possible in a simulated environment and the engineer can make changes directly. PLC programming is not necessary.

Shining the light on water treatment

The Water Treatment Innovation Platform of global water, energy and maintenance solutions provider, NCH Europe has launched aquaDART, a package of fluorescent traced water treatment products and monitoring equipment designed to accurately control the chemical dosing of water systems in industrial applications including food manufacturing, continuous production environments, commercial buildings and facilities.

Short for Direct Analysis Response Technology (DART), aquaDART continuously monitors and adjusts the water treatment programme to ensure industrial water-cooling systems stay free of rust, corrosion, mineral scale and microbiological contamination.

The system works in combination with fluorescent dyes to precisely maintain dosing levels within tight control parameters. Each chemical inhibitor used in the dosing regimen contains dyes in trace amounts (ppb level),making it invisible to the naked eye.

Printed Circuit Board Assembly Methods

Design-for-manufacturing (DFM) is a well known term and an essential part of the design process. Not as well known but just as important is the concept of design-for-assembly (DFA). If you optimize your circuit board so that it is produced flawlessly, yet make it so the board can only be assembled by tedious hand soldering, then you have saved cents per board on manufacturing just to increase the cost by dollars per board on assembly. To avoid this, both the manufacturing and the assembly need to be taken into account during the design phase. 

Fortunately, there is generally no need to compromise between manufacturing or assembly and in most cases you should be able to design a board that is both highly manufacturable and easily assembled. The first step in being able to design-for-assembly is to understand the assembly process. This process will be discussed in depth to show how a board goes from an unpopulated printed circuit board (PCB) to a final product, ready to be packaged and sent to consumers. You can check the Printed Circuit Board Assembly Methods for more info about this.

Guide of Driving LEDs

The first commercial Light Emitting Diode (LED) was introduced in the 1960’s. From its early beginnings as a low intensity red light, the LED has emerged as a highly versatile component, critical to a wide variety of applications.

Powering LEDs
LEDs are current controlled semiconductor devices. The intensity of the light output is proportional to the current flowing through the junction. Care must be taken to observe the correct polarity of the LED and not to exceed the maximum current rating. In either case, catastrophic damage to the LED may occur. The voltage flowing in the circuit has to be enough to provide the forward drop required by the LED (or LED’s) connected.

Railway DC/DC Converters for Ultra-Wide Input

Just released in the market the most awaited series of the highly efficient DC/DC converters. The new model series was designed due to high demands of variety of applications.

MR1511S series is a family of single output 15 W converters packaged in a compact 1 × 2 inch case is now available from MicroPower Direct.

Five standard models operate from wide 40 VDC to 160 VDC (110 VDC nominal) 4:1 inputs, providing tightly regulated single outputs of 3.3, 5, 12, 15 or 24 VDC. Standard features include line/load regulation less than 1.0%, input/output isolation of 1,500 VDC, a remote control input and efficiency as high as 89%. All models are protected for output short circuit faults and output current faults. The MTBF (per MIL HDBK 217F) is greater than 1.0 Mhours.

Read more about DC/DC converters for ulra-wide input. You can also search about cosel power supply which a very useful info as well.

Switching Power Adaptor for Desktop

One of the switching power adaptors for desktop is so called SPU63-105, which has an output of 75 WATTS of rated power. The good thing about in this adaptor is that it has an input voltage range of 90 – 264 VAC and a frequency range of 47 – 63 Hz.  In addition with this, 88% of efficiency and employs a convection cooling mechanism to facilitate heat dissipation of the system.  You can check to some features of this desktop switching power adapter.

Medical Grade Power Supply

I saw a power supply that was design by medical purposes and that was PMMX300S-12E.  This device is really cool because it features a Power Factor Correction (PFC), which has a power factor of 0.95. This Power Factor Correction (PFC) has capable of delivering 300 W of rated power with a voltage output of 12 V and a current output of 25 Ampere. Safety features of the PMMX300S-12E include over temperature, over current and short circuit protection.

Check the features of Medical Grade Power Supply PMMX300S-12E.

Power Factor Correction

Doing a research about coil to use into my latest coil project. In my circuit design that I would like to create, I would like to use the Power factor correction as my reference which actually I need more research about it because I could not really understand it on how it will be functioning to my circuit diagram. Below are my specs in transformer using the Power factor correction.

• 240V to 120 V at 60 Hz    
• Single-phase 
•  Isolated 
• Low coupling 
• Single primary, dual secondaries

And my expected layouts to choose from are among on these 3 designs.

I was thinking also to use the 018 series, which is a family of passive Power Factor Correction (PFC) coils that includes both in sealed. The 018 series includes a line-up of nine (9) models that have different current rating ranging from 1 – 18 A. If you don’t have any idea about it then see the features of this 018 series for you to check.

• Sealed and open frame
• Laminated core type
• Low audible noise
• Compact and reliable PFC coils
• PVC leads and faston connection
• Specially designed to increase the power factor and reduce THD while maintaining low temperature rise during operation
• Low power losses to extend operational lifetime

FDMF5820DC Smart Power Stage

Have you done creating high current power stage circuit diagram using the FDMF5820DC? Recently, I decided to create one by following the diagram below with instruction of course.  It is the next generation family of Fairchild with fully optimized, ultra-compact, integrated MOSFET plus driver power stage solution for high-current, high frequency, synchronous buck, DC-DC applications.

Check some features of FDMF5820DC.

• Ultra-Compact 5 mm x 5 mm PQFN Copper-Clip Package with Flip Chip Low-Side MOSFET and Dual Cool Architecture

• High Current Handling: 60 A

• 3-State 3.3 V PWM Input Gate Driver

• Dynamic Resistance Mode for Low-Side Drive (LDRV) Slows Low-Side MOSFET during Negative Inductor Current Switching

• Auto DCM (Low-Side Gate Turn Off) Using ZCD# Input

• Thermal Monitor for Module Temperature Reporting

• Programmable Thermal Shutdown (P_THDN)

• HS-Short Detect Fault# / Shutdown

• Dual Mode Enable / Fault# Pin

• Internal Pull-Up and Pull-Down for ZCD# and EN Inputs, respectively

• Fairchild PowerTrench® MOSFETs for Clean Voltage Waveforms and Reduced Ringing

• Fairchild SyncFETTM Technology (Integrated Schottky Diode) in Low-Side MOSFET

• Integrated Bootstrap Schottky Diode

Encapsulated MicroVerter

I’m doing some research about the advantages of Encapsulated MicroVerter to be use in my circuit diagram project but upon doing my research I found out that there are many of them to choose from. 

I choose to use Encapsulated MicroVerter because of the auto recovery from OTP / OCP / OVP Circuits features that perfectly used in myproject. I choose this as well because I’m looking a second generation that high efficiency electrical power design and proprietary advanced thermal management. For more feature please read Encapsulated MicroVerter.

Solar Circuit Diagram

Just this morning a gleam idea that was pop up to my mind to create a solar circuit diagram and I want it simple and easy to understand to the newbies. After my coffee I went to my laptop table and start my research about this solar circuit diagram and after 2-3 hour of doing some research I found this cool site that maybe can help me. 

 You can see below the very basic small solar installation with connection for adding additional solar panels. 

The 20 Amp main fuse used can vary depending on the load from your whole system and whether or not an inverter and AC circuitry is added. After specification of the wiring I generally try to start with a lower fuse than is really needed, switch everything on for a few minutes then if the fuse is OK stay with that, but keep a spare correct higher value one handy just in case, changing it only after a thorough inspection of the system. It is just the way I am, if I am supposed to use a 2 Amp fuse I will probably be trying a 1 Amp fuse first on the principal stated above. 

 Always remember - The fuse should always be rated less than the wire/run it is protecting, the fuse must always be the weakest link! 

The small fuse without a value is determined by the nominal output from the solar panel(s) and the wire gauge used, for example a 27w panel has a nominal output of around 1.5 Amps so it would be best to fit a 2 to 3 Amp fuse after first using the correct wire run. This is worked out by Ohms law i.e. watts (27 w) ÷ volts (approx panel voltage 17.5 v) = Amps (1.5) hence the 2 to 3 Amp fuse.

If you have time you can check also my design of a battery charger schematics.

Problem Encounter in RS485 Circuit

I had designed a little board to interface USART to RS485 circuit that has two types of connection: one row of the DIP MAX232, or the ISP header for ATmega64-128-1281-2561 family. 

But after few hours of design, I had decided to improve the circuit, by adding automatic capabilities to the T/R signal, instead of using SCK from the ISP header.

After 2 hours of using Google doing some search for circuits that automatically switch T/R signal, I didn't find anything interesting about the problem I have. Only one circuit that uses a simple transistor and few resistors, but that doesn't satisfy me, since I'm not sure if I do switches off the transceiver too early after the last bit had been sent.

I must say that I have a little being lazy guy, since I'm asking for suggestions about that which I think it’s a good idea to ask some help from you guys because I know some of you may encounter same problem as I encounter right now.

My first bet would be to add a capacitor between T/R pins and ground or VCC to add some delay.

Has someone experience with this kind of circuits? Can you share your idea and thoughts about it or someone that can give advice about this?

Bass-Treble Circuit Using Op-Amp 741

Will make this bassamplifier circuit quick and easy. I’m creating a bass-treble circuit using the Op-Amp741. Yes it is simple but don’t under estimate because it is also a powerful bass, treble, volume control is made by General Op-Amp IC LM741.  The maximum voltage that you can input in this powerful bass is 12V, but don’t worry because this circuit also works in 9v and 6 Volts. The circuit has inbuilt pre-amplifier also.

Parts:

IC LM741 x1
T/C 10k,22k,100k   All x1
Triansistor BC148/548   x1
220uF/25V   x2                 
4.7uF/25V  x2
2.2uF/10V x1
10uF/25V x1
Small resistances x12p
Small PF    x5p

Automotive QVGA Time of Flight Sensor

I was searching about the MLX75 automotive sensor that suits to my project, which I planned to make and as well suitable for LED or lase illumination. I planned to use this MLX75 because it has up to 40 MHz sensor modulations and high ambient light robustness.

So after doing long day research about the project that I planned to make, I finally found this site which I think it can help me a lot when it comes to MLX75 because they explain it well and the function of it. I also understand that aside on automotive QVGA Time of Flight sensor of MLX75 it has also response range 800-900 nm.  You can check the details about automotive QVGA Time of Flight sensor, for you to read and understand the function of it as well as the additional features of the MLX75023 sensor.

MLX71120 and MLX71121

Few days ago I was created a circuit diagram using the 315MHz ASK transmitter IC (integrated circuit). This time I would like to study or doing some research about the RF receiver with a use of MLX71120 and MLX71121 RF receiver applications in a balanced loop antenna.

The good news is, after doing plenty of research about RF receiver using MLX71120 and MLX71121 I found this site of Melexis that explain well on the function and where to use this RF receiver. Upon reading and exploring the site I found out that using this MLX71120 and MLX71121 will need exact computation.

Check this RF receiver MLX71120and MLX71121 for your reference.

Low Cost Programming Kit

I heard few students that they are looking some low cost programming kit that they can use to their project. At back of my mind, I said yeah..!! Where can I get this low cost programming kit? After of doing some research and digging some site I found this MLXSPI-01 programming kit, which can support all Melexis kitparts using the SPI.

MLXSPI-01 programming kit features compatibility with nearly any running PC and easy to use software is included. This is specifically designed to program the Melexis family of kit parts using the SPI interface.

This programming kit is also combination of software and hardware, which the hardware need to be connect to the parallel port of a standard pc to operate while the software will generate the timing of all the signals. Check the site to understand more about low cost programming kit.

Local Interconnect Network Overview

Did you know the exact meaning of LIN? I know many of you out there is thinking or searching what is LIN and what is the function of this. LIN is stands for Local Interconnect Network. LIN network is consists have LIN master and LIN slave and one LIN master typically has up to 16 slaves.

Local Interconnect Network group was founded in the late 1990s by the 5 European automakers Volcano Automotive Group and Freescale.  On November of 2002 the first fully version of LIN specification was implemented and published as LIN version 1.3. Version 2.0 of Local Interconnect Network was introduced on September 2003 to expand configuration capabilities and make provisions for significant additional diagnostics features and tool interfaces. For more understanding what is LIN all about check this LIN Video.

Frame Types of LIN:

1. Unconditional Frame. These always carry signals and their identifiers are in the range 0 to 59 (0x00 to 0x3b). All subscribers of the unconditional frame shall receive the frame and make it available to the application (assuming no errors were detected).
2. Event-triggered Frame. The purpose of this is to increase the responsiveness of the LIN cluster without assigning too much of the bus bandwidth to the polling of multiple slave nodes with seldom occurring events. The first data byte of the carried unconditional frame shall be equal to a protected identifier assigned to an event-triggered frame. A slave shall reply with an associated unconditional frame only if its data value has changed. If none of the slave tasks responds to the header the rest of the frame slot is silent and the header is ignored. If more than one slave task responds to the header in the same frame slot a collision will occur, and the master has to resolve the collision by requesting all associated unconditional frames before requesting the event-triggered frame again.
3. Sporadic Frame. This frame is transmitted by the master as required, so a collision cannot occur. The header of a sporadic frame shall only be sent in its associated frame slot when the master task knows that a signal carried in the frame has been updated. The publisher of the sporadic frame shall always provide the response to the header.
4. Diagnostic Frame. These always carry diagnostic or configuration data and they always contain eight data bytes. The identifier is either 60 (0x3C), called master request frame, or 61(0x3D), called slave response frame. Before generating the header of a diagnostic frame, the master task asks its diagnostic module if it shall be sent or if the bus shall be silent. The slave tasks publish and subscribe to the response according to their diagnostic module.
5. User-Defined Frame. These can carry any kind of information. Their identifier is 62 (0x3E). The header of a user-defined frame is always transmitted when a frame slot allocated to the frame is processed
6. Reserved Frame. These shall not be used in a LIN 2.0 cluster. Their identifier is 63 (0x3F).

Source: Wiki

Class AB 30W Amplifier Circuit

I was planning to create a 30w amplifier circuit for my project. 2 days of searching and stumbling around the net, then finally I found a site that answers all my questions and doubt about my project.  My amplifier circuit is a class AB 30w circuit amplifier.

Below is the instruction on how to set up the class AB amplifier circuit for 30 watts.

To set the above amplifier up, set R1 to max and R12 to 0. After doing this successfully, power on the amplifier. Set R1 so that the measured output offset is between 30 and 100mV. Once set, adjust R12 slowly to achieve a quiescent current of around 120mA. Keep checking the quiescent current as the amp heats up as it might change due to voltage drop changes in the output devices caused by heat. The heatsinks should be 0.6K/W or less for two amplifiers.

How to Invert 12V to 220V

In my previous post, I share to you guys about the 12V to 220V inverter schematic. This time I would like to share again about inverter, but this time it’s how to make 12V to 220V inverter. The main component of this small voltage converter to transform 12VDC to 220VAC is the CMOS 4047. We will used this CMOS 4047 to stable the multi-vibrator, at pins 10 and 11 will have a symmetrical rectangular signal (square wave) which is amplified by 2 Darlington transistors and finally reach the secondary coil of mains transformer (2x10V/60W).

Below are the videos presentations of the comparison between without load and with load.

Video Presentation 1 – without load

Video Presentation 2 – with load (light bulb)

With the help of P1 the output frequency can be adjusted between 50Hz to 400Hz. Although this is not part of any professional dc ac converter it can be used quite effective on some home appliances. Be aware that the output signal is square and not sine wave. So you cannot use it for powering TV, Laptops, monitors. Use it only for lighting, power tools and other non-expensive equipment.

Below is the circuit schematic of the converter in 60 Watts  from DC to AC.

Offline UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply)

Creating your own offline ups circuit diagram is a good idea to secure your backup files is a really a wise idea. With the increasing daily support on networked data systems, the need for goofproof backup of power supply systems is now crucial.

UPS applications require a high-speed control MCU with multiple on-chip inverter and converter PWM control functions thus making the RL78/I1A an ideal choice for continuous commercial power supplies. Renesas delivers optimal solutions for UPS applications by providing a variety of semiconductor devices in addition to MCUs.

Below are the recommended products that you can use to your offline ups circuit diagram.

Recommended Products

Block	Semiconductor device	Recommended products	Features, etc.
Controller	MCU	RL78/I1A	Optimal for standby(offline) power systems. Timers, 5V operation, small package.
		R8C Family	Optimal for standby(offline) power systems. Timers, 5V operation, small package.
	EEPROM	R1EX24xxx Series	I2C bus interface. Optimal for power failure recording *1
		R1EX25xxx Series	SPI bus interface. Optimal for power failure recording *2
Step-down circuit	MOSFET	RJK60xxDPK	Low on-resistance, high-speed switching
Step-up circuit	MOSFET	RJK1003DPN	Low on-resistance, high-speed switching
Inverter	MOSFET	RJK40/50/60xxDPK	Low on-resistance, high-speed switching
	IGBT	RJH60DxDPP/DPK, RSH60FxDPK	low VCE(sat), FRD on-chip
PFC power supply	IGBT	RJH60DxDPP/DPK	low VCE(sat), FRD on-chip
	PFC IC	R2A20115, R2A20112, R2A20117, R2A20118A, R2A20104
Power supply, etc.	Photocoupler (standard)	PS23xx Series PS27xx Series PS28xx Series	High isolation voltage (5kVr.m.s.), 4p-LSOP, Ta=115°C High isolation voltage (3.75kVr.m.s.), 4p-SOP, Ta=110°C High isolation voltage (2.5kVr.m.s.), 4p-SSOP, Ta=110°C
	Photocoupler (IGBT drive)	PS93xx Series (6/8p-SDIP) PS94xx Series (16p-SOP) PS95xx Series (8p-DIP) PS99xx Series (8p-LSDIP)	High isolation voltage (5kV～7.5kVr.m.s.) 0.6～2.5A output High CMR (CMR≧50kV/μs)
	Op-amp	HA1630xxx series, μPC358
MCU peripheral	Reset IC	RNA519xx Series	Variable detection voltage

*1 I²C : Inter-Integrated Circuit
*2 SPI : Serial Peripheral Interface