Keywords: Intelligent circuit breaker.jpg en Future of circuit Braker Engineers have long considered circuit protection a stable if somewhat unglamorous area However that stability is diminishing rapidly New sophisticated devices reshape the way engineers apply circuit protection and open new possibilities for the savvy designer Electronic systems are shrinking and circuit-protection devices are no exception To take up less space circuit breakers may double as power-control relays Programmability has also come to circuit breakers Smartprotectors sport programmable trip values and overload time delays More-sophisticated protectors measure and report voltage and current values alert control systems about tripped conditions and can be reset remotely As global markets become more important designers must consider how circuit-protection devices can meet both domestic and international standards Embedded microprocessors now get built into a variety of products and circuit-protection products are no exception with the arrival of intelligent devices Many smart breakers include sensing circuits These sensors feedback information to PLCs or other control units on such factors as circuit status current flows and other relevant data Programmable technology using solid-state power control makes it possible to monitor and limit maximum current flow during short circuits Embedded microcontrollers let engineers program both breaker trip points and speed profiles on the fly Such features were unheard of with traditional circuit breakers A small amount of processing power and the ability to communicate via standard industrial networks makes remote programmability a reality today Own Kevindias 2008-01-15 Circuit breaker schemas |