Patent ID: 11894638
Assignee: ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  Y | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A protective smart plug, comprising:
an electrical input plug configured to be connected to an electrical receptacle;
an electrical socket configured to accommodate an electrical plug of an external electrical load;
a bidirectional semiconductor switch configured to interrupt a current flow from the electrical input plug to the electrical socket;
a wireless communication module configured to receive and/or transmit operation instructions for the bidirectional semiconductor switch;
at least one sensor configured to detect a fault condition;
a gate driver circuit to control the bidirectional semiconductor switch as a function of a detected fault condition;
a microcontroller connected to the wireless communication module, the at least one sensor, and the gate driver circuit, the microcontroller configured to control the gate driver circuit and a general operation of the protective smart plug; and
a combined analog and digital controller to combine an analog control signal of an analog control circuit and a digital command signal from the microcontroller to generate a control signal for the gate driver circuit.