resources for creating DC to DC power converters

[Ken Nagorski]

Hi all, 

I thought this might be a good place to ask as I am looking into building a DC - DC power converter so I can take a larger Lipo battery and split off 5v to run my arduino and then have another 3v section to run my motors. has anyone done anything like this? I have done some research but the amount of info out there is a little overwhelming. 

Anyone have any suggestions about where to start? 

Thanks

[Joe ODonnell]

Take a look at these:

http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/mastascu/elessonshtml/Basic/Basic5Kv.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_divider

http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/69148/how-can-i-safely-power-two-3v-motors-from-a-9v-battery

http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/Motor_Shield_V2.0

http://www.adafruit.com/category/139

http://www.dx.com/c/electrical-tools-499/arduino-scm-supplies-436

http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/67149/what-are-the-most-common-ways-to-fry-an-arduino

[Joe ODonnell]

 Here are some suggested steps for the project:

1. Know the power, current, speed and heat characteristics of your motor and application of it.

2. Use an existing Arduino motor shield and tutorial for it if possible: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-motor-shield-v2-for-arduino/overview

3. If the above doesn't fit your design goals and parameters for some reason-which would be rare, you have 3 good choices and 2 bad choices to pick from:

 -After reading the previous links, design a circuit out of 2 existing cheap switching power modules.

 -Use a variation of the circuit diagram here: http://www.instructables.com/community/2-Voltage-Regulators-1-Power-Source/

 -consider one of the alternate methods of power handling in the stack exchange article.
 -Use voltage dividers, which will waste most power as heat.

 -Design your own multi voltage output switching power supply, which is difficult and lengthy : http://www.maximintegrated.com/en/app-notes/index.mvp/id/2031

[Kendall Smith]

Ken, Joe, and all,

  If you are comfortable building a small circuit board, take a look at this part: MAX17506ATP+ .  It is a DC-DC converter device that offers quite a few features.

  I am putting together a board with several of these for an RV project.

 - Kendall

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Kendall Smith

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[Joe ODonnell]

Thanks Kendall,

 That chip would be nicer to use with Arduino projects than the larger pre made modules. We have been discussing some potential IoT related

projects with another community group. The price of wifi and bluetooth modules from Asia has dropped to a couple dollars making them

attractive for cheap nodes. I remember it being mentioned that some other protocol was developed with much better power characteristics for IoT LAN's, I don't

recall the name. Perhaps Asia will start making more affordable modules at some point for that other protocol also.

Best,

Joe