Current sensing is useful in a lot of different applications. From battery charging, load balancing, electronic loads, or even solar power — knowing how much current your circuit is consuming can be a key figure to know. The INA700 is a great chip, but it comes in a very small surface mount package. But this awesome new INA700 Stamp makes it easy to integrate by transforming it into a larger surface mount package, or a 12-pin DIP through-hole component.
The INA700 is a 16-bit power monitor that interfaces with your microcontroller over I2C. With a 2mΩ integrated shunt resistor, it can handle ±15A with a common-mode voltage up to 40V! Not only that, it can also calculate energy and charge (in watts and coulombs respectively) which make it very useful for scientific applications. It can also automatically average up to 1024 samples, making for very accurate long-term measurements.
This great little breakout board is fully open source, and TheFlamingo has done an excellent job with the board layout. The large, castellated gold pads make for easy soldering, and the jumper selector allows you to quickly choose different I2C addresses.
On a separate note, all of us here at Tindie wish you a very Happy New Year! Have fun this New Year’s Eve, and feel free to tag us on social media with your New Year hacks/costumes/designs! We would like to remind you that if you drink, don’t drive — have a designated driver, call a taxi, or spend the night! Start the New Year off right by making sure all of your friends and family celebrate safely.
