Current Sensors

Blog

Beyond the Datasheet: Mastering Current Sensing Selection​

Master current sensor selection with expert guidance on technology trade-offs to design safer, more efficient, dependable solutions.

Technical Article

Rethink PCB Current Sensing

This article will discuss two new innovative approaches to measure currents up to 600 A in PCB: a near-lossless Hall-based current sensor with an integrated conductor and a non-invasive standalone core-free and shield-free differential Hall current sensor.

Technical Article

Breaking the Density Barrier: A Technical Deep Dive into Simplified SiC Gate Drive

Learn how Power-Thru™ isolated SiC gate drivers eliminate the need for bulky external bias supplies, drastically reducing BOM count and PCB size by up to 50%. Solve EMI and power density challenges in your next high-voltage design.

Technical Article

New 400 kHz Current Sensors Enable More Sustainable Designs in Switch-Mode Power Designs

Really Cool. Really Efficient. New 400 kHz current sensors enable more sustainable designs in switch-mode power designs.

Technical Article

Solar Energy Systems – New Market Trends in Current Sensing

P0103 - As solar installations grow larger and more ambitious by the day, new trends in current sensing are emerging for this expanding energy market.

Application Note

An Effective Method for Characterizing System Bandwidth in Complex Current Sensor Applications

This application note describes multiple methods for measuring and characterizing system bandwidth, with a focus on the impulse response method. Allegro’s ACS720 is the perfect device to validate the test methods outlined here.

Application Note

High-Current Measurement with Allegro Current Sensor IC and Ferromagnetic Core: Impact of Eddy Currents

AN296162 - The technique of measuring bus bar current with a surrounding ferromagnetic core is common knowledge. For highcurrent measurement above 200 A, Allegro recommends using a linear IC of the A136x family

Technical Article

Allegro is Driving the Future with Reliable eMobility Solutions

Techmezine speaks with Andreas P. Friedrich on Allegro’s Battery Management Solutions and latest innovation for EV.

Brochure

Brochure: Industry's First ASIL-C Field Current Sensor for eMobility

The ACS37601 is Allegro’s latest and most advanced linear Hall-effect sensor IC for core-based current sensing, developed in accordance with the ISO 26262 functional safety standard to achieve an ASIL C safety rating.

Brochure

Brochure: Driving Change by Advancing Personal Mobility Through Cutting-Edge Technology

Our advanced sensor and power IC solutions are engineered specifically to meet the unique requirements of these designs, providing superior performance and reliability in harsh environments and under complex operating conditions.

Application Note

How to Analyze and Compare Allegro Current Sensor and ADC Error Components

AN296282: Allegro offers a wide variety of current sensors with analog voltage outputs, and in many applications, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) converts the output voltage to a binary code.

Application Note

Achieving Closed-Loop Accuracy in Open-Loop Current Sensors

Closed-loop current sensing technology is employed in many industrial and automotive applications for accurate current sensing. Allegro MicroSystems has developed magnetic-based current sensor IC solutions that achieve near closed-loop accuracy using an open-loop topology.

Technical Article

Magnetic Current Sensing Drives Vehicle Electrification

Modern cars have become increasingly power hungry. Even the “least electrified” vehicles include advanced electronics for infotainment, safety, and engine control. Fully electric vehicles further add high-voltage power domains to charge and drive. Each of these systems shares the need for power monitoring and control, and this is where current sensors are used.

Application Note

PCB Ground Plane Optimization for Coreless Current Sensor Applications

AN296277 - This application note provides guidelines on how a PCB ground plane around the sensor location should be designed to achieve optimum performances.

Application Note

New Approaches to High-Efficiency Current Sensing: Integrated Hall Sensor ICs Save Power and Space

AN296100: Allegro current sensor ICs allow design engineers to use Hall-effect based current sensor ICs in new applications where increased energy efficiency or new operating features are required. Wherever current sensing is needed, an integrated Hall-effect IC can provide a solution.

Application Note

Current Sensing for Power Delivery

AN296256 - This article will discuss the advantages of various current sensing methods in power delivery.

Video

ACS780 & ACS781: High Current Density Fully Integrated Current Sensor ICs

Allegro’s new family of fully integrated current sensor linear ICs in a new core-less package designed to sense AC and DC currents up to 100 A.

Video

ACS712 Low-Noise 2100 VRMS Hall-Effect Current Sensor IC

The Allegro ACS712 provides economical and precise solutions for AC or DC current sensing in industrial, commercial, and communications systems. The device package allows for easy implementation by the customer. Typical applications include motor control, load detection and management, switched-mode power supplies, and overcurrent fault protection.

Technical Article

Overcoming Size Challenges in PCB Design with Magnetic Current Sensors

Magnetic current sensors provide a compact and efficient alternative to traditional current measurement techniques that significantly reduce the size of components on PCBs.

Technical Article

Crank Sensor IC for Stop-Start

This article describes start-stop operation and enabling Hall-effect integrated circuits, in particular the Allegro MicroSystems ATS694 and the previous generation ATS658, which are used in this application.

Application Note

Improving Efficiency in Smart Grid Applications With Fully Integrated Current Sensing ICs

With increasing concerns about the global demand for energy and environmental awareness, power electronics applications are under pressure to improve efficiency.

Technical Article

Hall Effect Current Sensing in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) Applications 

This note provides an understanding of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) power systems and the contribution Hall-effect sensing technology can provide to improving the performance and cost-effectiveness of these systems.

Application Note

Guidelines for Designing a Concentrator for High-Current Sensing Applications with an Allegro Hall-Effect Sensor IC

A concentrator focuses magnetic flux lines, which are generated by electrical current flowing through a conductor, at the center of the air gap, where the Hall-effect magnetic sensor IC is positioned.

Application Note

Techniques to Minimize Common-Mode Field Interference When Using Allegro Current Sensor ICs (ACS724 and ACS780)

This application note will discuss the mechanism of CMR and focus on how to best use this mechanism through optimized circuit board design and layout for sensors that need an external magnetic core, sensors that have a core built into the package, and sensors that have an integrated current-carrying loop but no core.

Application Note

Shifting the Offset Voltage of Current Sensors

Most of the Allegro™ unidirectional current sensor ICs are trimmed such that the zero ampere output is at 0.1 × VCC . The advantage of having the output voltage at 0.1 × VCC  is that the output can swing slightly lower than this value before saturating.

Application Note

Differential Current Sensing with the 1 MHz Bandwidth ACS733

AN296154 - This application note describes the use of the new highly isolated, high bandwidth ACS733 Hall-effect current sensor integrated circuit (IC) from Allegro MicroSystems and gives an overview of its features and advantages over a highspeed current transformer (CT) current sensing solution.

Application Note

Secrets of Measuring Currents Above 50 Amps

It can be challenging to sense currents exceeding 50 A because the task often involves thermal management, must take place in a limited PCB area, and in some cases, requires a voltage isolation device. Two widely used methods for sensing high currents are a sense-resistor/op-amp approach, and Hall-based current sensing.

Application Note

A Micro-Packaged Linear Current Sensor IC

Traditionally, current sensing has been accomplished with sense resistors or current transformers that can take up a large PCB area. Sense resistor values from 10 to 50 mΩ can burn a significant amount of power at higher currents.

Application Note

Hysteresis Mitigation in Current Sensor ICs Using Ferromagnetic Cores

AN269114 - Traditional open-loop current sensor ICs, like the Allegro ACS758CB and ACS770CB families, have ferromagnetic cores that act as magnetic concentrators. They concentrate the magnetic flux density, the B field, generated by current flowing through a conductor onto the Hall-effect sensor IC.

Application Note

Improved Performance and Features of Allegro’s Next Generation, High Power Density CB Package Current Sensors

This application note will describe the use of the new high current ACS772 Hall-effect current sensor integrated circuit (IC) from Allegro MicroSystems and will give an overview of its features and improvements from previous Allegro high-current sensors.

Technical Article

Current Sensing For Renewable Energy

In grid-tied photovoltaic systems, designers must focus on minimizing cost per watt to deliver the best possible return on investment.

Application Note

Hall Effect Current Sensing in Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

Improved energy efficiency in HEVs and EVs can be attained by using electrically-driven actuators instead of belt-driven and hydraulic actuators. For instance, in traditional internal combustion engines a fan belt drives the cooling fan, which operates continuously while the engine is running.

Application Note

DC Current Capability and Fuse Characteristics of Current Sensor ICs with 50 to 200 A Measurement Capability

Allegro MicroSystems offers a wide range of current sensor IC solutions that fall into two main categories: ICs having an integrated current-carrying conductor and ICs designed to be used with an external magnetic core.

Brochure

Brochure: Solar Energy Harvesting

Allegro’s current sensor ICs are ideal for use with solar applications, which include electronic subsystems like solar combiner boxes, DC/DC converters for maximum power point tracking (MPPT), and DC-AC inverters.

Application Note

Explanation of Error Specifications for Allegro Linear Hall-Effect based Current Sensor ICs

AN296181 - Determining the accuracy of a system requires knowledge of the error introduced by each component. When looking at Allegro current sensor datasheets, the total error line item is a good approximation of the worst-case error seen in application.