Using the Energy Meter

The Energy Meter is part of the Renewable Energy Add-On Set. If you connect the Energy Meter to a sensor port on the EV3 Brick, the meter can provide data about the electrical energy storage, input, and consumption of the electrical components connected to it.

You could use the Energy Meter to program your own automated energy experiments. For example, you might program a motor to run only when there is enough input power from a solar panel or enough stored energy in the battery.
Energy Meter Data
The Energy Meter provides seven kinds of Numeric data:
DataTypeRangeUnitNotes
In Voltage (V) Numeric0.0 to 10.0Volts (V)Input voltage
In Current (A) Numeric0.0 to 0.3Amps (A)Input current
In Wattage (W) Numeric0.0 to 3.0Watts (W)Input power
Out Voltage (V) Numeric0.0 to 10.0Volts (V)Output voltage
Out Current (A) Numeric0.0 to 0.5Amps (A)Output current
Out Wattage (W) Numeric0.0 to 5.0Watts (W)Output power
Joules (J) Numeric0 to 100Joules (J)Stored energy
See the documentation for the Renewable Energy Add-On Set for more information.

Using the data from the Energy Meter in a program is very similar to using data from other sensors that give Numeric data. See, for example, Using the Colour Sensor.
Blocks that Can Use the Energy Meter
The table below lists the different programming blocks that can be used with the Energy Meter. Each block will have different modes for each of the seven kinds of data provided by the meter.
BlockModeUse
Wait Energy Meter - CompareWait for a data reading to reach a certain value.
Wait Energy Meter - ChangeWait for a data reading to change by a certain amount.
Loop Energy MeterRepeat a sequence of blocks until a data reading reaches a certain value.
Switch Energy MeterChoose between two sequences of blocks based on a data reading.
Energy MeterMeasureGet a data reading on a Numeric data wire.
Energy MeterCompareCompare a data reading to a threshold and get the result on a Logic data wire.
Data LoggingSee Data Logging
Energy Meter
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