A great way to experiment and learn about digital power control, the Digital Power Experimenter Kit contains a power motherboard which accepts any of the plug-in controlCARDs. It is based on the TI PowerTrain™ modules, small and efficient 10-Amp synchronous buck power stages, which are directly interfaced with and controlled by the TMS320F28x digital signal controller (DSC). The kit is self-contained, providing a static or an active (switched) load. Voltage measurements of both outputs can be taken with the built-in digital voltmeter. The board requires a single 9-V DC supply and has a separately switched and fused rail as the input voltage bus to the Buck modules. This allows for safe, convenient software experimentation and debug without the risk of hardware damage.
The chapter is based on Texas Instruments Digital Power Experimenter's Kit (part-number: "TMDSDCDCKIT"). More Information can be found at www.ti.com