Control System for Testing Electrical Appliances

J. Chatzakis, H. Rigakis, M. Vogiatzaki, N. Lyberakis, M. Manitis, G. Liodakis, D. Kolokotsa, and E. Antonidakis (Greece)

Keywords

Control system, electrical appliance, testing platform, inverter, spike

Abstract

This paper presents the design and implementation of a control system for testing the endurance and behavior of electrical appliances in fluctuations of their input supply voltage. The proposed control system produces voltage fluctuations similar to the power network. The control system uses a DC/AC inverter that can produce variable frequency and variable voltage up to a maximum voltage level. A Spike Production Circuit is added to the design to produce spikes at levels higher than that of the inverter. An electronic relay circuit is responsible for switching between the inverter and the Spike Production Circuit. The inverter, the Spike Production Circuit and the relay are microprocessor controlled in order to produce the desired output waveform to the Device Under Test. The platform is interfaced with a PC where an application program was developed in order different testing patterns to be able to be generated and stored. This way the system will have the ability to cause electrical distress at the appliance in a programmable and repeated fashion while monitoring the condition of the appliance and the recording the time of faults happening. Results are presented.

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