Bluetooth Low-Energy Current Sensor Compensated Using Piecewise Linear Model

Current sensors that use a Hall element and Hall IC to measure the magnetic fields generated in steel silicon core gaps do not distinguish between direct and alternating currents. Thus, they are primarily used to measure direct current (DC) in industrial equipment. Although such sensors can measure the DC when installed in expensive equipment, ascertaining problems becomes difficult if the equipment is set up in an unexposed space. The control box is only opened during scheduled maintenance or when anomalies occur. Therefore, in this paper, a method is proposed for facilitating the safety management and maintenance of equipment when necessary, instead of waiting for anomalies or scheduled maintenance. A Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy current-sensor system based on near-field communication is used, which compensates for the nonlinearity of the current-sensor output signal using a piecewise linear model. The sensor is controlled using its generic attribute profile. Sensor nodes and cell phones used to check the signals obtained from the sensor at 50-A input currents showed an accuracy of ±1%, exhibiting linearity in all communications within the range of 0 to 50 A, with a stable output voltage for each communication segment.