This revolutionary integrated circuit detects storms that could potentially harm our equipment, allowing our circuits to take various protective actions. It has the ability to detect cloud-to-cloud or cloud-to-ground lightning.
The European and US Meteorological Safety Institutes consider 10 km to be a dangerous distance, at which point safety procedures must be activated. The AS3935 allows storm detection from a distance of 40 km, which is considered a safe distance, and its proprietary AMS algorithm filters out interference signals from human-made devices such as fluorescent lights, microwave ovens, motors, etc
The AS3935 uses a loop antenna based on a parallel LC resonator. Its automatic antenna tuning ensures optimal reception at all times.
The AS3935 has several operating modes, including a low-power mode of 8µA (typ) and a standby mode consuming only 64µA.
These low current draws make the AS3935 ideal for portable, battery-powered, or energy-harvesting applications.
Communication with an external microcontroller is via SPI or I2C, it can be supplied with a voltage from 2.4V to 5.5V, and operates in temperatures from -40°C to 85°C, all within a small 4x4mm 16LD MLPQ package with 16 pins.
An evaluation board is available that allows for a very quick and easy assessment of the AS3935's performance.
The main applications are small portable devices such as:
- GPS equipment,
- weather stations,
- anemometers for construction cranes,
- fishing equipment,
- bicycle equipment,
- outdoor activity equipment,
- pool control equipment,
- farm equipment such as automatic animal feed distribution systems,
- equipment for uninterruptible power supply applications such as UPS, power networks, etc.
- and in general any equipment that needs storm protection.
