The Allegro^® ACS712 provides economical and precise solutions for AC or DC current sensing in industrial, commercial, and communications systems.These are good sensors for metering and measuring overall power consumption of systems. The ACS712 current sensor measures up to 30A of DC or AC current.

The ACS712 Low Current Sensor Breakout outputs an analog voltage that varies linearly with sensed current. To calibrate, first set the output offset to the desired level (with zero current on the sense lines, read output with a DVM). Then with a known current input (a 100mA limited supply works well for this), set the output deflection with the gain pot. Sensitivity is then calculated as (Vref - Vdeflect)/(current input).

Specifications

• Current Limit: 30A
• Sensitivity: 66 mV/A

ACS712 sensor datasheet.

Current sensor overview, theory and Arduino code