UNIVERSAL POWER MANAGER WITH VARIABLE BUCK/BOOST CONVERTER

A universal power manger capable of power converting a universal range of unregulated power inputs into a high-resolution programmable regulated (constant) output voltage or a high-resolution programmable (constant) current and of charging and/or diagnosing standard battery chemistries with a universal range of unregulated AC and DC power inputs. It includes an extremely high resolution monolithic potentiometer of at least 512 positions. Preferably, two or more extremely high resolution monolithic potentiometers are used to create a high resolution resistance chain, each having at least 512 positions and at least one tap point set according to a user selected output voltage and/or current. Each potentiometer has a resultant tap point selected by an analog switch in accordance with a user selected output that determines overall resistance in the resistance chain, the output voltage being proportional to the overall resistance. A microprocessor with embedded control software controls the tap points and selection thereof in accordance with user selections. A current sense circuit and feedback loop is included for generating a current output in response to the current through the current sense circuit.