RELAY

REPORTED BY: LORENZO OMIPING

BIT 1D (NIGHT)
 What are relays?
 A relay is an electromagnetic switch operated by a relatively
small electric current that can turn on or off a much larger
electric current. The heart of a relay is an electromagnet (a
coil of wire that becomes a temporary magnet when
electricity flows through it). You can think of a relay as a kind
of electric lever: switch it on with a tiny current and it
switches on ("leverages") another appliance using a much
bigger current. Why is that useful? As the name suggests,
many sensors are incredibly sensitive pieces of electronic
equipment and produce only small electric currents. But
often we need them to drive bigger pieces of apparatus that
use bigger currents. Relays bridge the gap, making it possible
for small currents to activate larger ones. That means relays
can work either as switches (turning things on and off) or as
amplifiers (converting small currents into larger ones).
 When power flows through the first circuit (1), it activates the
electromagnet (brown), generating a magnetic field (blue) that
attracts a contact (red) and activates the second circuit (2). When
the power is switched off, a spring pulls the contact back up to its
original position, switching the second circuit off again.
 This is an example of a "normally open" (NO) relay: the contacts in
the second circuit are not connected by default, and switch on only
when a current flows through the magnet. Other relays are
"normally closed" (NC; the contacts are connected so a current
flows through them by default) and switch off only when the
magnet is activated, pulling or pushing the contacts apart. Normally
open relays are the most common.
 Here's another animation showing how a relay links two circuits
together. It's essentially the same thing drawn in a slightly different
way. On the left side, there's an input circuit powered by a switch or
a sensor of some kind. When this circuit is activated, it feeds current
to an electromagnet that pulls a metal switch closed and activates
the second, output circuit (on the right side). The relatively small
current in the input circuit thus activates the larger current in the
output circuit:
 The input circuit (blue loop) is switched off and no current
flows through it until something (either a sensor or a switch
closing) turns it on. The output circuit (red loop) is also
switched off.
 When a small current flows in the input circuit, it activates the
electromagnet (shown here as a dark blue coil), which
produces a magnetic field all around it.
 The energized electromagnet pulls the metal bar in the output
circuit toward it, closing the switch and allowing a much
bigger current to flow through the output circuit.
 The output circuit operates a high-current appliance such as a
lamp or an electric motor.
 Who invented relays?
 Relays were invented in 1835 by American electromagnetism pioneer Joseph Henry;
in a demonstration at the College of New Jersey, Henry used a small electromagnet
to switch a larger one on and off, and speculated that relays could be used to
control electrical machines over very long distances. Henry applied this idea to
another invention he was working on at the time, the electric telegraph (the
forerunner of the telephone), which was successfully developed by William Cooke
and Charles Wheatstone in England and (much more famously) by Samuel F. B.
Morse in the United States. Relays were later used in telephone switching and early
electronic computers and remained hugely popular until transistors came along in
the late 1940s; according to Bancroft Gherardi, marking the 100th anniversary of
Henry's work on electromagnetism, there were an estimated 70 million relays in
operation in the United States alone by that time. Transistors are tiny electronic
components that can do a similar job to relays, working as either amplifiers or
switches. Although they switch faster, use far less electricity, take up a fraction of
the space, and cost much less than relays, they generally work with only tiny
currents so relays are still used in many applications. It was the development of
transistors that spurred on the computer revolution from the mid-20th century
onward. But without relays, there would have been no transistors, so relays—and
pioneers like Joseph Henry—deserve some of the credit too!
 RELAY FUNCTION
 Relays are switches that open and close circuits electromechanically or
electronically. Relays control one electrical circuit by opening and closing
contacts in another circuit. As relay diagrams show, when a relay contact
is normally open (NO), there is an open contact when the relay is not
energized. When a relay contact is Normally Closed (NC), there is a closed
contact when the relay is not energized. In either case, applying electrical
current to the contacts will change their state.
Relays are generally used to switch smaller currents in a control circuit
and do not usually control power consuming devices except for small
motors and Solenoids that draw low amps. Nonetheless, relays can
"control" larger voltages and amperes by having an amplifying effect
because a small voltage applied to a relays coil can result in a large
voltage being switched by the contacts.
Protective relays can prevent equipment damage by detecting electrical
abnormalities, including overcurrent, undercurrent, overloads and reverse
currents. In addition, relays are also widely used to switch starting coils,
heating elements, pilot lights and audible alarms.
 Electromechanical Relays vs Solid State Relays
 Relays are either electromechanical relays or solid-state
relays. In electromechanical relays(EMR), contacts are
opened or closed by a magnetic force. With solid-state
relays (SSR), there are no contacts and switching is totally
electronic. The decision to use electromechanical or solid
state relays depends on an application's electrical
requirements, cost constraints and life expectancy.
Although solid-state relays have become very popular,
electromechanical relays remain common. Many of the
functions performed by heavy-duty equipment need the
switching capabilities of electromechanical relays. Solid
State Relays switche the current using non-moving
electronic devices such as silicon controlled rectifiers.
 These differences in the two types of relays result in
advantages and disadvantages with each system. Because
solid state relays do not have to either energize a coil or
open contacts, less voltage is required to "turn" Solid State
Relays on or off. Similarly, Solid State Relays turn on and turn
off faster because there are no physical parts to move.
Although the absence of contacts and moving parts means
that Solid State Relays are not subject to arcing and do not
wear out, contacts on Electromechanical Relays can be
replaced, whereas entire Solid State Relays must be replaced
when any part becomes defective. Because of the
construction of Solid State Relays, there is residual electrical
resistance and/or current leakage whether switches are open
and closed. The small voltage drops that are created are not
usually a problem; however, Electromechanical Relays
provide a cleaner ON or OFF condition because of the
relatively large distance between contacts, which acts as a
form of insulation.
 The main purpose of the relay is switching and controlling
power source.
 By the help of the micro-controller, we can control the output
by controlling input pin of the relay by toggle 1 and 0. Relay
provides isolation between digital input and output terminal.
 It works on the concept of magnetic field and Faraday law.
When supply not present across the
coil, then switch is connected with N.C.
terminal.
When we supply power to the coil, the
wire switches to the terminal N.O.
because of magnetic force. (When
metal wire present in the magnetic field
then force is induced into it F=
I*L*B*sin() and its movement direction
could identify using Right-hand Rule).