Ammeter Amp Garden ElectricAMMETER CIRCUIT OVERVIEW: During the energy audit, we used a Kill-A-Watt device, which runs about $20. We wanted to more efficiently and cheaply implement a way to measure the electricity consumption of appliances used on the 4th floor, without also needing to unplug devices repeatedly. So we set out to build a circuit using an extension cord, toroid choke, diode bridge and an Arduino to measure AC current, starting off with light bulbs. The goal is to have a stable circuit that can handle reading the AC current from a variety of appliances, from lamps to computers, and be able to log and store that info in a database. The final circuit could be converted to PCB format, made compact and used throughout the floor to monitor electricity usage. GARDEN ELECTRIC: The Garden Electric is a synthetic garden constructed from recycled materials which visualizes our consumption of electricity through the growth and death of each of each of the garden's plants. Documentation on both at http://www.gardenelectric.com Flickr sets:
delicious research: http://del.icio.us/pablocomotion/ammeters Jan 07 update: Megan & Angela will continue working on this circuit in Jeff Feddersen's Sustainable Energy class. If anyone has questions or useful info, please contact us! |