Electronics advice needed for the Eyedrivomatic project
Patrick Joyce wrote 09/25/2015 at 18:00 • 2 pointsHya. I have a problem that i would be grateful for some help with.
Eyedrivomatic uses an arduino to control two servos. For the servo power i want to use a cheap usb battery pack, of the sort used for emergency charging of mobile phones. The arduino itself is powered through the usb cable (which is always connected). My problem is that the power packs automatically shut down when there is no drain, ie. when the servos aren't moving. They don't then turn back on when the servos want to move again. Very irritating. I am currently using more expensive battery packs with physical on/off switches, but want to reduce the costs for other users. What i need is a way to fool the battery pack into staying on regardless of whether the servo is moving or not.
If my hands worked i would tinker with it until i found a solution, but they don't. I'm a quadraplegic, and have to rely on my carers for all physical tasks.
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Congratulations on having made it to the finals, it's a novel project!
I would also like to point you to my Hackaday semifinalist entry - #Smart Battery, Smarter Power Pack which uses laptop battery packs and charges much faster than a normal USB power bank.
Also, I do have a power bank with the same issues, however I haven't investigated it further so far. I'll let you know if I find something.
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hi Kumar. Thanks for your reply. I like your battery project. If that was a manufactured product, i would buy one instantly. I love the concept. Another product i tried is a jump starter battery. Same issue. What i'm looking for is a readily available, off the shelf, rechargeable portable power pack. And there just isn't one. If you have any further ideas about the usb power packs i would be grateful..
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brilliant! Thanks Luke. I knew the solution wouldn't be simple. Your approach makes sense, and i will investigateit further. I am currently franticly building systems for our first round of beta testers. So, when thats done, i'll get back to thebattery problem.
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