Development of a low cost universal sensor for an accurate measurement of current, voltage and temperature

Sensors are established in many areas in the energy technology, drive technology or automotive industry. The range of sensors, which are used for the measurement of electrical quantities recorded over a decade in an enormous growth. The demand as well as the request to the sensor and in particular for the current, voltage sensors & temperature sensors have reshaped by technological progress. The advantage of the universal sensor which is described in this paper is the high resolution and the variable full measurement range. The digital output signal in form of F-PWM [2] allows using this sensor in far distances without any loss of the accuracy. In addition the power consumption of the sensor is very low compared with common voltage, current or temperature sensors. The novel modulation method and therefore the current/voltage sensor, is for control units, which control the current or the voltage, a big advantage. The measured values are directly coded in a “digital value”, which can be decoded and used for the control unit. This paper presents an universal sensor which includes three single sensor topologies (current, voltage and temperature) together.