Week 9 : Output devices

Measure the power consumption of an output device

The measurement of power consumption can be usefull for understanding and optimizing energy usage. For this assignment we measure the consumption of an OLED screen by using different tools, including a USB tester and a multimeter.

Setup preparation

The OLED screen was connected to a power source through a USB cable and a microcontroller (RP2040), allowing us to monitor its power consumption.

Measurements

With the setup in place, we conducted initial measurements using the multimeter. By connecting the multimeter in series with the OLED screen, we obtained real-time readings of current flowing through the device, allowing us to calculate power consumption using the formula P = VI.

The current flowing in the OLED Screen was around 5.70mA, which is coherent for a OLED display.

To supplement our measurements and gain additional insights, we incorporated a USB tester into our setup. The USB tester provided valuable data such as voltage, current, and power consumption directly from the USB connection, offering a comprehensive overview of the OLED screen’s energy usage. We can see that the output voltage of the USB port is aournd the 5V as expected.