CURRENT SENSOR mini project High-wattage appliances like electric irons, ovens and heaters result in unnecessary power

loss if left on for hours unnoticed. Here is a circuit that senses the flow of current through the appliances and gives audible beeps every fifteen minutes to remind you of power-on status. This is a non-contact version of current monitor and can sense the flow of current in high-current appliances from a distance of up to 3 cm . !t uses a standard step-down transformer " -#$, % m&' as the current sensor. !ts secondary winding is left open, while the primary winding ends are used to detect the current. The primary ends of the transformer are connected to a full-wave bridge rectifier comprising diodes () through (*. The rectified output is connected to the non-inverting input of !+ +&3)* "!+)'.!+ +&3)* is a *.%,H- .!,/0 operational amplifier with ,/012T input and bipolar transistor output. !t has gate-protected ,/012T "3,/0' transistors in the input to provide very high input impedance ").% T-ohms', very low input current ") p&' and high-speed switching performance.

The inverting input of !+) is preset with $4). !n the standby mode, the primary of the transformer accepts e.m.f. from the instrument or surrounding atmosphere, which results in low-voltage input to !+). This low voltage at the non-inverting input keeps the output of !+) low. Thus transistor T) doesnt conduct and pin )5 of !+5 goes high to disable !+5. &s a result, the remaining part of the circuit gets inactivated.6hen a highcurrent appliance is switched on, there will be a current drain in the primary of the transformer to the negative rail due to an increase in the e.m.f. caused by the flow of current through the appliance. This results in voltage rise at the non-inverting input and the output of !+) becomes high. This high output drives transistor T) into conduction and the reset pin of !+5 becomes low, which enables !+5. !+ +(* 7 "!+5' is a )*-stage ripple counter. !t is used as a )%-minute timer by feeding 8# output to the pie-obu--er for aural alarm through the intermediate circuitry. 4esistors 4% and 47 along with capacitor +) maintain the oscillations in !+5 as indicated by blinking 92(). The high output from !+5 is used to activate a simple oscillator comprising transistors T5 and T3, resistors 4: and 4) , and capacitor +5. 6hen the 8# output of !+5 becomes high, -ener diode ;() provides 3.) volts to the base of transitor T5. 0ince transistor T5 is biased by a highvalue resistor "4:', it will not conduct immediately. +apacitor +5 slowly charges and when the voltage at the base of T5 increases above .7 volt, it conducts. 6hen T5 conducts, the base of T3 turns low and it also conducts. The pie-obu--er connected to the

collector of T3 gives a short beep as capacitor +5 discharges. This se<uence of !+5 output at 8# becoming high and conduction of transistors T5 and T3 resulting in beep sound repeats at short intervals.