There are a few resources online that claim that a Amtega328p uses around 3-5mA.
For circuit testing of my designs i would like to achive the most possible current draw, is there any way to do this in software? Like a burn-in test for a computer.
This procedure should be used to measure if there is anything wrong with the circuit, like in normal mode a circuit uses for example 100mA, if one now only uses 50 or 150, there must be something wrong.
Why do you need to use more for that? Just measure what it uses and base it around that.
If you want it to use more power, give it more to do. Faster timers, ADC full running, comparators on, switching a lot of outputs. But I don't see how that ever is going to be useful...
sgt_johnny:
For circuit testing of my designs i would like to achive the most possible current draw, is there any way to do this in software?
No. The processor is capable of sourcing / sinking significantly more current then what the processor itself uses (up to 200 mA per VCC / GND pair). Getting to the "most possible current draw" entails connecting resistive loads to at least six pins on each port. (The processor does warm slightly when doing that.)
The idea is to create a steady state in full load mode, means all peripherals on max power (in my case easy since i use RFID readers, so just call a continous read) and set the processor to max power.
This case would let me know lets say when testing 1000units the good range is from 95 to 105mA, everything not in that case is different, and therefore must be excluded/further tested.
If you want to test the power supply, just test normal idle power. For a real test, just make a REAL (self)TEST for the micro.
sgt_johnny:
This procedure should be used to measure if there is anything wrong with the circuit, like in normal mode a circuit uses for example 100mA, if one now only uses 50 or 150, there must be something wrong.
Load the software and run it; use a multimeter to measure current consumption.
Later you can replace the multimeter by something more advanced which can measure current consumption and compare against known limits.
If you only want to test the processor, just build something with a ZIF socket and measure the current consumption.