Need circuit idea for programmable P.S.

Thread Starter

ksquare

Joined Oct 11, 2009
15
I would like to build a programmable power supply that can go from 0 to 600vdc. Don't need much current, maybe 10-20ma max. Voltage increment should be 1 to 5 volts. If such a PS could be controlled by a PIC, that would be great. The trick in my mind is the PS, not the PIC part. Any ideas or suggestions?
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
Well, there are three basic choices:

Build a 600V supply and put an adjustable linear regulator past it. At 20 mA you're only burning off 12 watts there.

Build a switcher to boost whatever convenient voltage you have to that range.

Build a switcher followed by a programmable linear regulator. Best efficiency and still a clean output.

Even with 1V resolution you only have 600 steps so a PIC with a 10 bit A2D could measure it, not sure if that same resolution is acceptable for a PWM control output to run a switcher. If you bang thru Microchip to the schematic for the PicKit 2 they have a step up switcher in there controlled by the PIC. It's only 13 V or so output but has the basic scheme you need to use (L1 & Q4 in 2nd page).
 

JDT

Joined Feb 12, 2009
657
Use a switcher to get your 600V. There will be a resistive divider on the output that will feed back to the controller circuit to regulate the output voltage.

This derived voltage will be compared to a reference voltage.

Instead of using a fixed reference voltage, use a reference voltage generated by a DAC fed from a digital input.
 
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