FINAL PAPER

Shreesh Nanda
Peng Xu
Aashiv Shah
ECE 445, SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT
FALL 2004

TA: Chad Carlson

Date:12/05/2004
Project No:13

Abstract
Various parts of India like Maharashtra do not have reliable power supply as a
result of which people use pedal power to charge batteries and run other gadgets . Yet the
main difficulty involved in this is that gadgets like LED lamps , radios and cassette
players run off 6 volts and the batteries are 12 volts . Another difficulty faced is that the
output voltage needs to be constant for an input voltage of 12 volts and should not vary.
This idea was submitted by the Engineers Without Borders group and we had to come up
with a plan to get a constant output of 3V/6V from an input of 12V . We decided to
implement the circuit using a low-cost DC-DC converter which would have a feedback
circuit that would change the output voltage automatically in response to any change in
the input voltage which was what our design specifications required . To first test our
circuit we built the open loop version of a DC-DC converter which took in an input of
12V and gave a constant output of 3V/6V . The open loop circuit consisted of 2 chips --the TL494 which basically was a pulse-width modulation control circuit on a single chip
and the IR2117 which acted like a voltage amplifier and amplified the output of the
TL494 so that it could drive the MOSFET MTP50N06V . We had a potentiometer one
end of which was connected to the feedback of the TL494 and the other end was
connected to reference voltage(REF) of the TL494 . By varying the resistance of the
potentiometer we obtained the correct output of 3V/6V for an input of 12V . The closed
loop circuit was different in that we did not have to change the output manually in that we
built a feedback circuit to automatically do it . We also decided to do a PCB
implementation of our circuit once we had got the design down and got a working circuit
on our breadboard circuit .

TABLEOFCONTENTS
1.

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................
1.1 Review and Update Material................................................................................................
1.2 Specifications........................................................................................................................
1.3 Subprojects...........................................................................................................................

2.

DESIGN PROCEDURE.............................................................................................................
2.1 Design Decisions..................................................................................................................

3.

DESIGN DETAILS....................................................................................................................
3.1 Components..........................................................................................................................
3.2 Diagrams...............................................................................................................................

4.

DESIGN VERIFICATION.........................................................................................................
4.1 Testing...................................................................................................................................

5.

COST..........................................................................................................................................
5.1 Parts......................................................................................................................................
5.2 Labor.....................................................................................................................................

6.

CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................................

INTRODUCTION
1.1 : Review and Update Material
In this project we seek to develop a low cost and efficient DC-DC converter to run
various electronic gadgets (radio, cassette player, led lamps, charge 6 volt
batteries) from a 12 volt lead acid battery. The converter will convert the 12 volt
input to 3/6volt output .
Some of the uses that this project may server are :
It will run various electronic gadgets such as radio, cassette players and LED
lamps
It will help to use power more efficiently where meager power is available .
It helps to replace the voltage generator in maintaining voltage across two
terminals since it keeps the dissipation of power to a minimum .
It helps to keep the voltage across two terminals constant , smoothening out
the fluctuations in power . This concept is very important if someone is using a
radio or cassette player and there are power fluctuations .
Communities in third world countries without reliable power supply would
greatly benefit from this .
We plan to implement our circuit using the closed loop feedback circuit as shown
below in Fig1.
12V
M T P 5 0 N 0 6V
50 uH

150 O hm

3K

0 .0 0 1 uF

1
2
16
15

10K

5
6
14

2K

3
4
13
100K

2 .2 u F

12

IN
IN
IN
IN

1
1
2
2

+
+
-

CT
RT
VREF

C1
C2
E1
E2

8
11

U2

9
10

2
3
1

CO MP
DTC
O C

HO

CO M

VS

VCC

VB

IR 2 1 1 7

VCC
1N5819

T L494C
10K

IN

1K

1K

Fig 1: Closed loop feedback circuit

7
6
8

1N5819

470 uF

LO AD

1.2: Specifications :
The specifications of our circuit are as follows :
Input Voltage : 12 V
Output Voltage : 3V/6V
Output current : 0.5 A
Efficiency
: 80% or more

1.3: Subprojects :
Our project was divided into three parts :
a

Open loop circuit : The open loop circuit consists of the TL494 , the
output of which enters into the IR2117 . The TL494 is a
pulse-width modulator circuit built into a chip . The output
of this TL494 is then amplified by the IR2117 to drive the
MTP50N06V MOSFET . The drain of this MOSFET is
connected to power while a L-C circuit is connected to its
source . The output is taken across a power resistor placed
in parallel to the capacitance of this L-C circuit .

Closed loop circuit : The closed loop circuit is similar to the open loop circuit
and only differs in its feedback circuit . While the open
loop circuit has a potentiometer , one end of which goes
into the feedback of the TL494 chip and the other which
is connected to the reference voltage of the TL494 , the
closed loop circuit has a feedback which automatically
changes the output in response to any change in the input .
Thus , unlike the open loop circuit we do not need to
manually control the output .

PCB implementation
of closed loop circuit : We plan to use Easytrax to layout our PCB and then
submit it to the parts shop who would then implement
our design on a Printed Circuit Board .

DESIGN PROCEDURE

2.1 : Design Decisions :

We plan to implement our circuit using step down DC-DC buck converter .
The block diagram of a step-down buck converter is given below in Fig2 :

Fig 2:Step Down Buck Converter

This step down buck converter has two states : the on-state and the off-state . The on-state
occurs when the diode is on and the off-state occurs when the diode is off . The block
diagrams for the on and off states of the step-down buck converter are given below in
Figs. 3 and 4 :

Fig3:On-State of a Buck Converter

During the ON stage, the diode is off and the transistor shows a small resistance of RDS.
There is a voltage drop of VDS across the transistor and hence the input voltage to the
inductor is VI VDS. However there is another voltage drop of IL*RL before the inductor
and the voltage that reaches the inductor is VI minus these losses. The voltage to the
right side of the inductor is Vo. Hence the voltage across the inductor is VI minus all
these values. VL is also given by the following equation:

.... <1>
The above equation shows that the inductor current increases due to the applied voltage.
The increase in inductor current is given by

.. <2>
Substituting the value of VL, we get

..<3>

Fig 4:The Off State of a Buck Converter

When the transistor is off, the diode is on and the current now goes through
the diode. The voltage into the inductor becomes Vd (IL * RL).
The voltage across the inductor is still Vo and the change in inductor current is given as
follows:

. <4>
In steady state, the change in current during the on and off stage should be the same. We
use this to solve for Vo.

.<5>
Using Ts = Ton + TOFF and defining the duty ratio D=TON/TS, we get

<6>
This is the equation which relates the input to the output.

DESIGN DETAILS
3.1 Components :
The components that we use to build the step-down buck converter are :
1 TL 494 chip
2 IR 2117 chip
3 MTP50N06V MOSFET
4 1N5819 diode (2)
5 Resistors : 10Kohm (2), 100Kohm(1), 1Kohm(2),
2Kohm(1), 3Kohm(1), 150ohm(1)
6> Capacitors : 0.001micro Farad(1), 2.2 micro Farad(1) ,
1 micro Farad(2), 47 micro Farad(1)
7> Inductor : 50 micro Henry
3.2 Diagrams :
The diagram of the TL494 chip is given below in Fig5

Fig5: TL494

Vcc : Supply Voltage

REF : Reference voltage
C1 : Output Voltage of TL494
CT : Timing Capacitor
RT : Timing Resistor

1IN+,1IN- : input to the amplifier

The diagram of the IR2117 chip is given below in Fig6 .

Fig6:IR2117

We use the above two chips and wire them up to give us the open loop configuration as
shown below in Fig7 .
12V1
MTP50N06V
50 uH

150 Ohm

0.001uF1

potentiometer

10K

16
15

14

13
12

1
2

5
6
3
4

IN1+
IN1IN2+
IN2CT
RT
VREF

C1
C2
E1
E2

8
11
9
10

COMP
DTC
OC

U4
2
3
1

IN

HO

COM

VS

VCC

VB

7
6

1N5819

IR2117

VCC
TL494C

1N5819

Fig7:Open Loop Circuit

Our closed loop feedback circuit is exactly similar to the open loop circuit except that we
replace the potentiometer by a feedback circuit .
The diagram of this circuit is given in Fig 1 .

470 uF

LOAD

DESIGN VERIFICATION
4.1 Testing
We read both the multimeter and the oscilloscope to test our ouput . For our circuit the
multimeter reading showed that for an input of 12V, output is 3.1V (when the switch is
turned to one side) and the output is 5.7V(when the switch is turned to other side) and the
current drawn is 0.13A . The oscilloscope reading , on the other hand , gave us an output
value of 3.2V and 6.23V and a current of 0.l3A .
Next , we measured the circuit efficiency for different values of output voltages and
resistances for four different cases .
Case 1: Load resistance = 56 ohms
Vout = 6V
Vin = 12V
Pin = 1.2W
Pout = Vout^2/R = 6^2/56 = 0.642W
Efficiency = Pout/Pin *100 = 54%

Iin = 0.1A

Case 2: Load resistance = 40 ohms

Vout = 3.1V
Vin =12V
Pin=1.2W
Pout = 3.1^2/40 = 0.171W
Efficiency = 15%

Iin = 0.1A

Case 3 : Load resistance = 56 ohms Vout = 6.23V Vin = 12V

Pin=1.66W
Pout=6.23^2/56 = 0.97W
Efficiency = 60%

Iin=0.139A

Case 4: Load resistance = 40 ohms

Vout=3.06V
Vin = 12V Iin=0.106A
Pin=1.2W
Pout=3.06^2/40 = 0.23W
Efficiency = 20%

A major problem in our circuit was noise.

For an output of 3.12V , the noise was found to have an amplitude of 510mV and
frequency of 35Mhz .

Fig 8 : Circuit Noise for an output of 3.12V

For an output of 5.7V , the noise was found to have an amplitude of 531.3mV and
frequency of 32Mhz as shown below in Fig. 9 .

Fig 9 : Circuit noise for an output of 5.7V

To reduce the noise in the circuit , we increased the load capacitance .

For a load capacitance of 470 micro Farad, the ripple voltage decreased down to 319 mV
while for load capacitances of 1000 micro Farad and 1500 micro Farads , the output
ripple voltage was found to be 134mV and 98mV respectively . Thus , we managed to
reduce our noise levels significantly as shown below in Figs. 10 and 11 .

Fig. 10: Circuit noise for an output of 5.7V and load capacitance of 47 microFarad

Fig 11: Circuit noise for an output of 5.7V and load capacitance of 1500micro Farad

COST
5.1 Parts
Part

Part #

Vendor

PWM
TL494CN
Chip
High Side IR2117
Gate
Drive
Diode
1N5820-T
Parts Shop
Transistor MTP50N06 Parts Shop
4 layers PCB Board
Capacitor
Parts Shop
Inductor
ECE Store
Resistor
Parts Shop
Switch
Parts Shop
TOTAL COST OF CIRCUIT

Quanlity

Cost
each

Total cost

$ 0.17

$ 0.17

$ 1.04

$ 1.04

2
1
1
5
1
9
2

$ 0.24
$ 0.98
$ 30.00
$0.25
$ 1.65
$1.23
$1.00

$ 0.48
$ 0.98
$ 30.00
$1.25
$ 1.65
$ 11.07
$2.00
$48.64

5.2 Labor
Peng Xu:
$50/hr x 60 hrs x 2.5= $7,500.00
Aashiv:
$50/hr x 60 hrs x 2.5= $7,500.00
Shreesh:
$50/hr x 60 hrs x 2.5= $7,500.00
Total Labor:
Total Parts:

$22,500.00
$48.64

Grand Total = $22,548.64

6. Conclusion
Overall, the project was a success. The specifications required in the proposal
were met. Our buck converter worked fine for different resistor values and with the
increased capacitance, our voltage ripple was down to an acceptable level. The closed
loop circuit accounts for any change in the input voltage and makes sure that the output
voltage does not change drastically.
There are some changes that can still be made to the circuit. Adding a current
fuse of 0.5A would make sure that there would be no overload of current, which might
damage the appliance used. Also a better feedback circuit would enable the circuit to
withstand changes in input voltage better. Some of the components might also be changed
to try and bring down the cost of the circuit further while maintaining an acceptable level
of efficiency.

REFERENCES
1>P.T. Krein , Elements of Power Electronics , NewYork , Oxford University Press,1998,
pg119-161.
2>http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/tl494.html
3>http://www.irf.com/product-info/datasheets/data/ir2117.pdf
4> http://www.ti.com