The role of optocouplers in controlling high current
Sometimes you need to control a high current from a microcontroller circuit, such as an Arduino. Although it's possible to do with a transistor, using an optocoupler is safer as it ensures that there is no noise or high-voltage spikes coming from the high-current circuit. An optocoupler, also known as photocoupler or opto-isolator, is a device which can transfer an electrical signal across two galvanically-isolated circuits by way of optical coupling. Unlike transformers or capacitors, which can only transfer AC signals across the isolation barrier, optocouplers can. In this guide, you'll learn how they work and how you can use one in your own projects. Internal Equivalence Circuit Here, we will describe how a general-purpose photocoupler with this basic structure is used. That way, noisy signals, voltage spikes, or weird grounding issues don't mess with sensitive electronics.
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