0-10V to 5V PWM... any reason this wouldn't work?

pcbroch

New member
Any reason I couldn't take the 0-10V signal from the apex, run it through a voltage divider to bring it down to 5V, and then use a barebones arduino chip (about 10$ worth of parts) to read the analog value, convert it to a 0-255 value and output it to a PWM pin?

I have 5 pwm led drivers that I'd rather not have to replace if I can.

I've already proven the concept on a breadboard with the apex out of the loop (using a power supply with a pot to simulate 0-10V)

I'm just wondering if the voltage divider risks causing problems (or damage) to the apex unit itelf?
 
What I plan on doing for a project of mine, only thing to consider is the output of the Apex should be limited to 10ma or so.
 
That's a good idea from Bryan to make sure the current draw from the Apex is not too big. Two 10k resistors in series will give you a current draw from the Apex of 0.5 mA and 5 V at the intermediate node.

Be sure to buffer the voltage divider with an op-amp follower and it will work fine. I can post a brief schematic if that would be helpful.

Dave
 
Dave:

Wouldn't mind seeing your schematic as well.

Pcbroch
If the 0-10v output is important and you don't want to voltage divide, Maxim makes a 0-10v 16bit ADC chip. Only problem is the output is parallel. Maxim 1177

Cheers
 
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