Re: schmitt trigger question

My hardware days are nearly two decades in the past, but I'd say this
largely comes down to the capabilities of the microcontoller. Either it has
the functionality or it doesn't. If not, you'd need external circuitry to
detect the condition. Given a small, known resistance in series with the
motor (small compared with the resistance of the motor, that is), you could
theoretically measure the voltage across the resistance and use that to
infer the current. Many microcontrollers have built-in ADCs these days, I
think. If yours doesn't, that will increase the complexity further.

On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 3:01 PM, John Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
> Hi guys,
>
>    I have the schematic diagrams for a firmware project that uses schmitt
> triggers on a series of output ports that have small DC motors connected to
> them. The firmware project has a programmable microcontroller with enough
> capability to allow it to execute a small program that is uploaded via a
> blue tooth connection.
>
>    According to my research and the project specs, the schmitt trigger(s)
> on the output ports are supposed to automatically increase the current to
> the motor if the motor pulls too much power for an extended period of time,
> i.e. the 'high' threshold for the schmitt trigger circuit is crossed.
>
>    My question is, can the "firing" of the schmitt trigger be controlled
> or atleast detected by code? If my code can't control exactly if or when
> the schmitt trigger increases the power to the motor, can it atleast detect
> when this happens? Is this possible? Thoughts? Ideas? Thanks guys.
>
>
> John
>
>
>
>