I'm trying to find a good and practical current sensor and I found this: Si8519
http://www.silabs.com/Support%20Documents/TechnicalDocs/Si85xx.pdf
My idea is monitor AC Mains current, so this Si8519 works up to 20A.
After read the pdf document I have no idea how to wire this stuff to a Raspberry Pi.
I have searched on google, but still no results, does anyone know about this chips?? Not even a single example found on the internet.
I'm using 20pin chip with legs. Also I saw very IIN and IOUT on the chip, don't know how to use it and I don't want to blow up the chip.
Can someone help me understanding how to wire this stuff?
Best Answer
I only looked at the datasheet quickly, but the main output is analog. That means you have to run it into a A/D input.
However, it looks like you have to get envolved in resetting the internal integrator. I didn't really read that section, so maybe there is a way to have the chip reset itself automatically from the incoming power line cycles. It also mentioned something about the output being pegged during the negative half of the cycle, so it looks like you have to be aware of when the line half-cycles are. This kind of real-time control is probably easier to do with a microcontroller, then send nicely cooked digital data to the RPi.
This part looks tricky, so you have to read the datasheet very carefully before planning out your strategy.