Perancangan Sistem Monitoring Arus, Tegangan, dan Waktu Pengisian Superkapasitor Berbasis Mikrokontroler untuk Spot Welder Portable

Abstract

This research focused on the development of a microcontroller-based monitoring system for charging and discharging supercapacitors in portable spot welder applications. The system was designed using an Arduino Nano as the main controller, an INA219 sensor for current and voltage measurement, and a 16×2 LCD module for real-time data display. The experimental procedures involved observing the charging process from 0 V up to full capacity and evaluating discharging during welding operations. The results showed that the supercapacitor reached a maximum voltage of 5.48 V within 18 minutes, with the charging current decreasing from 2.41 A to 1.01 A. During discharging, the supercapacitor delivered peak currents of 31.25 A and released up to 461.82 J of energy. Sensor validation indicated a deviation of less than 3.5% from digital multimeter readings, which confirmed the reliability of the INA219 for real-time monitoring. Welding performance analysis revealed that strong joints were achieved when the discharge energy exceeded 250 J with peak currents above 29 A, resulting in 9 successful welds out of 15 trials. In conclusion, the proposed monitoring system was successfully implemented and demonstrated effective measurement capability for supercapacitor-based spot welding. The system was practical, low-cost, and suitable for further development in portable energy applications.