Pulsing a DC current 1

[lrc03161991]

Hello, I am an Environmental Engineer with very little knowledge of electrical engineering, yet I am working on a project and need a little help. Please let me know if I posted in the wrong place. I need to pulse DC current. I have a power supply that will be putting out about 15 vDC and I need to pulse this current at this same voltage. At minimum I need to pulse the current at one second intervals but it would be great if I could try a few other things like a sinusoidal wave or pulsing at different time intervals.

Is there anything out there that I can put in the circuit that will allow me to do this? Perhaps something with a usb port, or something of the sort, so I can code in some different pulsing option with a nice graphical user interface? If there is something out there will it have restrictions on how many volt i can run through it? I will be running at about 15 vDC but I may potentially want to go as high as 40 or as low 3 volts.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

 

[itsmoked]

Look up a LM555. It's a common chip for generating PWM signals. It won't be real easy to adjust lots of ways.

If you want adjust-ability you probably should consider getting a signal generator. Search for signal generator on ebay and you will see dozens. You haven't stated the key parameter of frequency but if you're not thinking something too high, virtually any you see will work.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[ScottyUK]

You might find you have to drive a solid-state relay from a signal generator, or add an electronic switch (transistor / FET) directly to the circuit if you're going the NE555 route. Neither option will give you much current without some sort of external power switch.