The “MSP430 Energy Watchdog” is a Smart Plug reference design from Texas Instruments.  This tool can be used to accurately measure power consumption of any household electrical appliance.  The power measurement is performed using the MSP430AFE253 energy metering IC and results are displayed on a LCD screen.  Results that are calculated and displayed include incoming AC voltage, current, frequency, active power, reactive power, apparent power, power factor, and energy consumption in kWh. In addition to being a fully functional tool for energy measurement, the Energy Watchdog is also a development tool for system designers to develop their smart plug or sub-meter designs and go-to-market very quickly.  The tool has a debug port as well as serial interfaces to connect optional peripherals like wireless communication modules to transmit energy consumption data to a remote location.  Wireless solutions such as ZigBee or sub-1 GHz solutions like Wireless M-Bus are available from TI and can connect easily to the Energy Watchdog tool. 

 

Full schematics are available in the User’s Guide and software is based on TI’s MSP430 Energy Library.  More details can be found in the Tools Folder.

What do you think of this reference design and its features?

 

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