a current-to-voltage converter, also called a resistor,

@IceWolf well, an ideal resistor has a voltage across it that is equal to its resistance times the current through it. Thus, it takes a current as input and produces a voltage as output, though its output characteristics are pretty terrible so proper I-to-V converters tend to use an in-amp as well to increase input impedance and decrease output impedance, and to level-shift if necessary.

@IceWolf Almost all high-bandwidth current sensors are based around passing the current to be sensed through an extremely precise resistor of the lowest resistance possible (to not disturb the circuit too much) and measuring the voltage across that with a high-bandwidth amplifier and ADC. Magnetic current sensors like current transformers and Hall-effect sensors have less of an impact on the circuit, but are limited in bandwidth compared to the resistive type due to magnetics being messy

Follow

@IceWolf also magnetic current sensors are less accurate than resistive ones, especially at low currents and double especially with any DC bias even if you're just looking at the AC component of the current because! surprise! plain ol' ferrite and electrical steel are nonlinear! fun!

@IceWolf (it actually is fun though since you can use the nonlinearity to produce a magnetic amplifer that uses nothing but a ferrite core and some wires, you can control the amplitude of a high-frequency signal on one winding by applying a low-frequency signal on another winding that's just enough to partially saturate the core)

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Awoo Space

Awoo.space is a Mastodon instance where members can rely on a team of moderators to help resolve conflict, and limits federation with other instances using a specific access list to minimize abuse.

While mature content is allowed here, we strongly believe in being able to choose to engage with content on your own terms, so please make sure to put mature and potentially sensitive content behind the CW feature with enough description that people know what it's about.

Before signing up, please read our community guidelines. While it's a very broad swath of topics it covers, please do your best! We believe that as long as you're putting forth genuine effort to limit harm you might cause – even if you haven't read the document – you'll be okay!