IOIO Robot Solar Cell and Self powering

[Ailgor Bot]

Bonjour,

 I am looking for having autonomy in term of power for my future IOIO Robot,

Built with :

- Galaxy S GT-I9000 Internal Battery Li-ion polymer 1650 mAh

- IOIO-OTG card

- 2 motors 6 Vcc (rapport 1:48)

- 2 Servos mini "Nano-S" Couple @ 4,8V/6V: 11/13 Ncm

- Infrared sensor SHARP™ "GP2YOA51SK"

 

Energy part could have :

- une Accu Li-Ion 3,7 V 2000 mAh

- une Cellule solaire SOL3W 5,5 V/540 mA

 

I don't know about Charger Module

It could be Charger module LiPo Pro POW12059P which charging the Lipo with the solar cells. 

Or this one  : https://www.robotics...&product_id=260

 

Finally I would like to connect Power out with 2-pin JST, female of IOIO-OTG card and not the USB will be plug with the Android device Galaxy S.

 

Any idea ?

[Ailgor Bot]

for exemple with  LiPo POW12059P

 

Charger module USB input I could plug ANDROID Device

Charger module JST Bat : Lipo

Charger module JST Solar : Solar Cells 

Charger module USB output : USB Input IOIO

 

I am wondering if it will be enough for my robot or I will need an external power so in this case I need a Charger module 

Charger module  JST Bat : Lipo

Charger module  JST Solar : Solar Cells 

Charger module JST output to JST input IOIO  Maybe I should make wire USB-JST

USB Input IOIO : USB Output Android Device

 

[Ytai Ben-Tsvi]

The LiPo charger / boost is rated to 5V @ 1A. It is probably a bit low for charging a cell-phone AND driving a couple of motors reliably.

I don't think the way you intended to connect things would work, since that board probably won't pass the USB connection through, but only happens to use USB connectors for power.

What you need is something like:

•  2S LiPo (7.4V) connected to the IOIO JST input.
  
• IOIO connected to Android over USB, where the IOIO is the host (would charge the Android).
• A LiPo solar charger capable of charging a 2S pack, connected in parallel to the battery (or to the IOIO Vin/GND terminals).

If you can't find a 2S solar charger, your next best bet is to stick to the 1S configuration and find a boost capable of about 2A-3A of output. If you can't find one that is integrated with a solar charger, you may use two discrete modules (boost, solar charger). If possible, I would recommend boosting to higher than 5V and powering the IOIO through the JST input. This has the advantage of using the IOIO on-board 5V regulator with some margin, to smooth out any glitches in the input voltage.

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[Ailgor Bot]

Thanks for your reply,

Finally I have ordered that :

• Carte chargeur LiPo Pro POW12059P  : http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/LiPo-Rider-Pro-p-992.html
  
• Cellule solaire SOL3W : http://www.gotronic.fr/art-cellule-solaire-sol3w-18996.htm
  
• Accu Li-Ion 3,7 V 2000 mAh : http://www.gotronic.fr/art-accu-li-ion-3-7-v-2000-mah-19034.htm
  

I will try with these items.

I will make also a wire USB->JST for Charger module USB output to JST input IOIO

The Accu is enough to drive motors. I hope, when I am using the robot, power will go to motor, and when the Robot is "sleeping" power will go to charging the both device and accu... Let's pray !!!

 

[Ytai Ben-Tsvi]

Hmmm... That's not really how electricity works. The motors and IOIO/phone are connected in parallel and both will potentially draw current at the same time. Your phone has no idea that the motors are running and/or what is the current budget. This design runs the risk of:

• Damaging the boost regulator on the charger/boost board. This is probably not very likely, as most sane regulators have over-current protection, but I haven't looked at this specific one.
• More likely, you will see drops in the connection between the IOIO and the Android, as result of voltage dips caused by current spikes by the motors.

And of course, you might get lucky and it will just work... If it doesn't, at least you know where to look for the problems. Good luck, and share your results!