4 Power Circuits

Question 1

Draw the diagram for a high level power path

Answer 1

Plug, Ferrite, Inlet filter, PSU, PCB

Question 2

Draw the diagram for a high level PCB design

Answer 2

On top:
Filtering, Power management, Power Components

Below isolation barrier:
Microcontroller, Signal conditioning, Buzzer, External interfaces

Question 3

What does on board filtering reduce the effects of?

Answer 3

External conducted noise
Conducted noise generated by the PCB

Question 4

What are power components?

Answer 4

Components that draw significant amounts of power in comparison to the PCB components
Rechargable batteries, motors, motor controllers

Question 5

What is the isolation barrier used for?

Answer 5

Limits the transition of noise across the PCB
Important when dealing with low amplitude sensor signals

Question 6

What does a microcontroller do?

Answer 6

Brains of the device
Reads sensors
Reads in external interaction via usb port, uart, i2c

Question 7

What factors determine which microcontroller is used?

Answer 7

Number of pins
Memory