ANT BBPS: An Efficient and Portable Breadboard Power Supply

ANT BBPS (breadboard power supply) is an open-source, compact power supply carefully designed to connect to the end of any M102 breadboard. It can be plugged directly into the power connection pins and does not interfere with anything else because of its unique shape. ANT BBPS offers an easy way to control current, a wide range of input voltage, and up to 12 V DC output. With just one button and a potentiometer dial, ANT BBPS is very simple to understand and operate. The potentiometer is used to set the output voltage and the button is used to enable it. The button can also be used to open up the menu.

It has two input connections, a USB connector, and a screw terminal. The USB Type-C connector is hard-wired with pull-downs for 5-volt operation. And we can use an adapter or a power bank to easily power up the breadboard. As for the screw terminal, it allows any other wired connections as the input source, such as AA and 9 V batteries, or even a 7 V wall adapter. Both the input and output voltage are very flexible. A buck-boost circuit design enables an input range from 4.0 to 13 volt DC. The power supply can provide 12 watts from 1.8 to 12 volt DC output. It also supports a current limit with 50 mA increments that can be set digitally. The user can configure settings, adjust the output voltage (in 10 mV increments), and set the current limit using the potentiometer and button.

Technical Specifications of ANT BBPS

• Input: 4.0 V DC – 13.0 V DC
• Output: 1.8 V DC – 12.0 V DC @ 1000 mA (12 W)
• Voltage output: it is set at 10 mV increments
•  Current limit: Digitally controlled current limit set at 50 mA increments
• External input connection
•  Designed for M102 breadboards

It uses an ATtiny1604 microcontroller to set the output parameters, measure the output current, and display information on an OLED screen. An INA219 high-side current sense amplifier is used to measure the current. The main difference between ANT BBPS and any other breadboard power supply is that ANT has an OLED display that can be used to show the output voltage (V), current (I), and power consumption (P).

Since ANT BBPS would be used during prototyping, it is excellent to see that the supply has built-in protection. For example, when an over-current condition occurs, it displays an error message on the screen and disables the output until the user solves the problem and clears the fault indicator. Additionally, to account for working on either side of the breadboard, ANT BBPS has a feature to flip the orientation of the OLED. All of these benefits make ANT BBPS ideal for prototyping digital and analog circuits.

For more details, check out the crowd supply page of ANT BBPS.

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