Battery Voltage-Monitor ICs for Portables Drive 3-, 4-, and 5-Bar LED Indicators
The S-82x9 family of voltage-monitor + LED-driver ICs developed by ABLIC provides simple solutions for 3- to 5-segment battery status displays in cordless tools and other portable electronics. All devices can monitor multiple voltages while consuming very little power and occupying a very small PCB footprint. They can monitor multiple voltages and don’t require support from an external microcontroller.
Variants of the display drivers are available with “ENABLE” and “SENSE” pins, which allow the designer to select various modes of operation. Depending on the level of resolution required, designers can use the S-82F9 Series to drive up to five LEDs, the S-82D９ Series to drive up to four LEDs, or the 8229A Series to drive up to three LEDs.
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Lee Goldberg is a self-identified “Recovering Engineer,” Maker/Hacker, Green-Tech Maven, Aviator, Gadfly, and Geek Dad. He spent the first 18 years of his career helping design microprocessors, embedded systems, renewable energy applications, and the occasional interplanetary spacecraft. After trading his ‘scope and soldering iron for a keyboard and a second career as a tech journalist, he’s spent the next two decades at several print and online engineering publications.
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