Design, Construction and Evaluation of a Power Digital Meter for Laboratory Use

Abstract

Measurement provides a standard for everyday things and processes. Without
the ability to measure, it would be difficult for scientists to conduct experiments
or form theories. It is essential in farming, engineering, construction,
manufacturing, commerce, and numerous other occupations and activities,
hence plays a very important role in our lives. While conducting experiment(s)
on electrical or electronics it is essential to measure voltage and current using
an ammeter, voltmeter or multimeter. This measurement was used in computing
the power drowns in the circuit. In this regard a direct current (DC) digital meter
is designed, constructed and evaluated to measure voltage, current and the
power being expended in a circuit directly. The materials chosen based on their
simplicity and availability within the locality. Micro controller integrated circuit
(IC) ATMEGA32A was programmed for the operations while the TC1602A (IC)
alphanumeric liquid crystal display (LCD) was chosen as the human-machine
interface (HMI) between the human user and the digital control system. After the
construction, it was tested and compared with the standard and found to be
working satisfactory.