Abstract
A low frequency square wave electronic ballast for the high intensity discharge(HID) lamps using fuzzy logic controller is developed. This electronic ballast consists a buck converter, a low frequency square wave full bridge inverter, a high voltage pulse generator for the HID lamp ignition, an over current protection circuit and an 8-bit microcontroller. The ballast system is operated on the constant current mode during the HID lamp start-up process and the system is operated on the constant power mode during steady state. Experimental results show that the fuzzy logic control operation is carried out successfully by the 8-bit microcontroller PIC16F877 In this electronic ballast system, in spite of the limited control bandwidth caused by low operating speed of the microcontroller, the good performance in the constant lamp current characteristic is obtained. Acoustic resonance of the HID lamps can be effectively avoided because the instantaneous In lamp power is fully constant due to the low frequency square wave drive.