After two new output plugs, here’s one for input – a dual Opto-coupler:
The idea is simple: feed it 5..50 mA of the proper polarity, and the other side can be read out by a JeeNode without any electrical contact. As the name says: light is used to remove the need for a galvanic connection.
This can be used for more than just high voltages: there are many cases where two different low-voltage circuits have independent ground levels, and where you want to keep it that way.
Electricity always takes the path of least resistance (literally!), and with high-current loads (or inductive spikes), you never know when some piece of equipment decides that it would love to send 5A through the GND pins across a JeeNode. There’s no danger involved here, but some traces on the JN print will go up in smoke (literally!).
A simple example is when you’re dealing with two power sources, and hook them up – accidentally or on purpose. Nothing will usually guarantee that the ground pins get connnected first. You might just briefly get the positive high-current supply hooked up in such a way that it finds another ground loop…
As with the Relay Plug, I’ll mention that you can use this Opto-coupler Plug to sense AC mains voltages (well not directly… more on that in a moment). But the risk is all yours.
The terminals on this plug are also detachable, but smaller: they use a 3.5 mm pin separation, and can handle a bit less current. The reason for this distinction is that you don’t want to accidentally put a high-power connector from the Relay Plug into this low-power Opto-coupler Plug. Since the connectors don’t match, this risk is avoided.
So what can you use as input source with this Opto-coupler Plug? Well… that depends – on the resistors soldered onto this plug, to be precise. Each resistor is in series with a LED contained inside the opto-coupler:
The dual opto-coupler used here will operate with roughly 4 .. 55 mA of current through the LED. The series resistors included with the kit are 1 kΩ @ 1/8W – this translates to a DC input voltage range of about 5 .. 12V. Any higher, and the resistor will get too hot – any lower, and the opto-coupler won’t trigger.
For higher voltages, you can replace these resistors with a higher value. Try to keep current consumption minimal, say 5 mA. Here’s the calculation to make it work with a 24V input: 23 V (roughly 1V gets taken up by the LED) with 0.005 A is … scribble, scribble, scratch, scratch … E=I*R … R=E/I … R = 23 / 0.005 = 4600 Ω!
So you should be good with a 4.7 kΩ resistor. Now let’s calculate the power consumption of that resistor … ponder, ponder … P=I*E … E = I*R … P = I*I*R = 0.005 * 0.005 * 4700 = 0.1175 W. Phew, a 1/8W (0.125W) resistor will work, but with little slack. Not surprising, really: the resistor is eating up 23 of the 24 V sent into the plug. Meaning: heat. That’s why low current use is best: current has a quadratic impact on the power consumption.
The trouble is that with 4.7 kΩ, you can only use the plug with 24V: any lower, and the current through the opto-coupler will be too low, any higher and the resistor will deliver its final puff, in the form of smoke…
So there you have it, with some free electricity calculations thrown in: this plug will work as is on a 5 .. 12V input source, and with the proper resistor value you can also make it work @ 12 .. 24V. The two inputs are fully independent, so different resistor values are possible.
If you happen to have a current-limited source in the 4 .. 55 mA range, then simply omit the resistors and put a dab of solder to close the jumper on the pcb. That’s 0 Ω, if you really want to know :)
On the JeeNode side, first enable the pull-up resistors on AIO and DIO, and then read them out as digital inputs. If you wanted to get maximum sensitivity, you could even use the AIO pin in analog input mode, and place the threshold a bit lower. That’s going to require a bit of experimentation (and it only works on the AIO side).
New café and shop pages have been added, as usual.
There’s one more new plug on the menu, a few days from now … that one will be a bit different from the rest. Even simpler, yet fairly versatile. Stay tuned!
You have been a busy bee haven’t you!
Re 0Ω, I have actually seen a kit that listed 0Ω resistors in the parts. I expected them to just be wire links, but no, they looked just like “real” resistors, with just a single black strip on them!
So about the mystery next plug… Please can it be a dual opto-triac isolator output, or am I too late for wishes?
There are actually uses for 0Ω resistors: as SMD, you can use them to cross traces, for example.
Triac – I hear you. For a dimmer, we’d need to get a zero crossing input as well as an output (i.e. one port), right? That way the JN can do the pulse timing. Hmm… now we just need to find an external box that does the triac, mains, receptacles, fuse, isolation thing. In Europlug and UK format.
I wasn’t actually thinking about a dimmer in this instance. I was thinking about not having to make any more of my little interface boards for my camera flash control! I don’t actually need big triacs for that, the MOC3020 optotriac isolator can handle the voltage/current all on its own.
Re dimming, there are a couple of ways it could be done. Syncing the ATmega to the AC cycle and using timing is one, but as you say, it uses a pin to sense the cycle. Of course you could dim 7 lamps using all the Jeenode ports, and just use one pin for sensing the AC cycle, which makes the board a bit tricky.
The other option would be an optically coupled LDR which could be driven via a PWM derived analogue level.