measuring current and recording it with Raspbarry Pi

Hi Jorge,

I am just a 1st timer but do have a project going on.

In this project I have to detect and measure current flowing though a normal power cord use for by example a tool or piece of equipment.

I want this measument to be recorded by example a Raspbarry or similar board.

So i can log the usage of the equipment beeing used in time and used current.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Kind Regards,

Ben.

0 amgalbu over 9 years ago

Hi Jorge
you can use an ac current sensor like this one. Here
New Arduino Library: INA219 i2c Current/Power Monitor | johngineer
you can see an example of a circuit based on the AN219 IC. There are breakout boards that use this IC
I suggest the AN219 IC because it has a I2C interface that can be easily connected to a Raspberry Pi board (which does not have analog inputs on the connector header)

Cheers
Ambrogio
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0 artful_bodger over 9 years ago

The INA219 is designed for DC only, and will offer you no isolation from the mains supply and your Pi and computer.
There was thread started here http://www.element14.com/community/message/107588/l/re-measure-ac-voltage-and-current-using-aurdino for Arduino, but the basic ideas are the same.
The hardest bit is converting the real time measurements into readable values. You will learn about RMS values and how to convert them from peak, and something called power factor which allows us to differentiate between watts (W) and volt-amps (VA)
This site http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/applications/homeenergy will give you a good description of the various terms. It also has working code for Arduino.
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0 bprewit over 9 years ago

I've used the Allegro ACS712 for similar purposes; However, it is a direct-sensing device .. the load current flows through the device.

HTH,

Attachments:
ACS712-Datasheet.pdf
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