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Output Devices

The assignment for this week was to measure the power consumption of an output device. So what we did was to connect a multimeter to measure the power consumptions of a stepper motor while in motion.

Measuring Power Consumption

In order to measure power consumption of a device whilst using Arduino, we have to follow the steps below:

  1. Select the milliamp range on the meter
  2. Connect the red lead to the meter's milliamp socket
  3. Disconnect the power supply from the board
  4. Connect the GND of the supply connector to the GND of the board connector
  5. Connect the red probe of the meter to the positive connector on the supply
  6. Connect the black probe of the meter to the positive connector on the board
  7. Observe the meter reading
  8. Multiply milliamps/1000 by voltage to get power in watts
    1. Voltage measured with second meter
    2. rated voltage of supply
    3. voltage measured earlier or later

Power Consumption of a Stepper Motor

The stepper motor was set on continuous motion, and the power consumption was measured. Below, you can see the results: