ZS1100A Power Meter USB power supply tracks energy consumption of IoT devices

Developers, makers and hobbyists looking for a USB-based power supply that can accurately estimate the energy consumption of Internet of things devices may be interested to know that the ZS1100A Power Meter created by ZSCircuits is now available to purchase from the Crowd Supply website.

“Internet of Things is a leading buzzword these days in the technology world. Most of the devices used to create the IoT (Internet of Things) work on small batteries. The measurement of energy consumption of these IoT devices is a difficult task due to the dynamic nature of the current consumption. Developers often need to use multiple instruments and hand calculations to arrive at an estimate of the energy consumption. To solve these problems, the ZS1100A Power Meter has been designed. This tool can plot the current consumption vs time very accurately and in great detail, which can be used along with the battery model to estimate the overall battery life. It has been created by engineers for engineers.”

“The power consumption of IoT devices follow a peculiar pattern which is difficult to measure using traditional equipment. The main reasons for this are listed below:

– High Dynamic Range: An IoT device would consume a few μA in sleep state and few hundred mA in its transmit state, depending on the radio. Thus, the current waveform has a very high dynamic range spanning almost 6 decades.

– High Bandwidth: The current drawn by an IoT device can change from few mA to hundreds of mA in couple of micro-seconds. Thus, the frequency content of these current waveforms is well over few 100 KHz.

– Long Profile Times: It is not uncommon for IoT devices to have a typical profile which can last for several tens of minutes to 1 hour. They may perform intermittent wake-ups during this time for some misc activities, and hence these also need to be recorded. For accurate power analysis, complete capture of the profile is needed.”

Specifications of the ZS1100A Power Meter

Computer Interfacing: USB 2.0, Type-B connection
- Free GUI with waveform analysis tools (Windows-only for now)
- Data can be exported to sigrok/PulseView for UART, SPI, I²C protocol analysis
- Data can be exported as ASCII in XML
- Excellent data compression rates – 24 hours of data takes ~10 GB
I/O: Front-facing pins with standard (2.54 mm/.1″) pitch in a 2×5 configuration
- 6 digital inputs
  - Function as a logic analyzer capturing at 1 MHz
  - Voltage range of 1.8 to 5 V
  - Input impedence of 10 pF || 100 kΩ
  - 4 have 100 kΩ pull-down resistors
  - 2 have 100 kΩ pull-up resistors to VCC
- 2 GND pins (shorted with the power supply ground)
- 1 VCC pin
- 1 CLK output at 1 MHz, 3.3 V, driving a load of 30 pF || 100 kΩ
- 8 jumper wires included with purchase
Indicator Screen: OLED – indicating voltage, current, status, etc.
Electromagnetic Shielding: Aluminum enclosure provides excellent noise reduction
ESD Protection: On all inputs and outputs
Thermal Protection: An internal temperature monitor will automatically shut the unit down in case over overheating
Environmental Tolerances:
- Operating temperature of 15-40°C
- Operating humidity < 90% RH
Power: Barrel jack, 2.1 mm ID, 5.5 mm OD, with a center-positive
- Input voltage of 12-15 V DC
- Input amperage of 5 A max
- 15 V, 3 A power supply is included with purchase
- Consumption of < 2 W
Dimensions: ~ 16 x 11 x 5 cm (~ 5.9 x 4.3 x 2 in)
Weight: ~420 g (.93 lbs)
Standard Conformance: CE, FCC, RoHS