How do you make an adjustable current source?
If you want to make the current source adjustable, you have 2 options. Being the load current is decided by the voltage or the resistance, you add a potentiometer to the voltage source or a potentiometer as the output resistor so that you can vary the current output.
What does a adjustable regulator do?
An Adjustable Voltage Regulator is a regulator that can output adjustable voltages from anywhere in the range that the voltage regulator is designed to output. A LM317 voltage regulator, for example, can be made to output any voltages from +1.2V-37V.
What is the difference between voltage regulator and current regulator?
In voltage regulators, the current is varied to achieve the required voltage level, while current regulators usually involve variations in voltage/resistance to achieve the required current output. As such, while it is possible, it is usually difficult to regulate voltage and current at the same time in a circuit.
What is difference between fixed and adjustable regulator?
Adjustable Voltage regulators require a very few external components to achieve its operation. Fixed voltage regulators require almost no external components (may be a couple of bypass capacitors). At low cost you have a wide range of voltage and current selection.
What is Howland pump?
The Improved Howland current pump is a circuit that uses a difference amplifier to impose a voltage across a shunt resistor, creating a voltage-controlled current source capable of driving a wide range of load resistances.
How do you keep a current source constant?
For the perfect constant current source, the voltage source would have an infinite voltage and the resistor would have an infinite resistance. For practical applications, the voltage and resistance should enable the current to be near enough constant over the range of load required.
What is a current regulator?
A current regulator is an integrated circuit that provides a constant current regardless of changes in the input voltage or load current. It is based on self-biased transistor technology and regulates current over a range of voltages.
Does a voltage regulator control current?
Although it has to be said that voltage regulators usually do control the current, i.e. they have a built-in current-limiting circuit, and they have a thermal shutdown circuit, and thus they don’t normally get damaged by a short circuit on the output.