I have been working on revision 2 of the LRMS boards. Component placement is completed and I will be routing Transceiver and gas sensor boards. All board dimensions have been updated to 90mm x 70mm (LxW). This supports inexpensive 70mmx90mm...
In a previous project log, I did a first stab attempt at hacking the RT8299 to perform MPPT by running a PWM on the enable pin. This failed miserably.The next obvious hack was to have the feedback pin (FB) of the RT8299 tied to the solar input. In this...
In a previous project log I mentioned the possibility of using the PIC12F1571 with an external OpAmp as a lower cost replacement for the PIC16F1704. It's not a huge cost savings, 20cents-ish, but it's enough to make my ears perk up.So, I tried it.Exact...
It's been far too long since I've posted an update. I am still, in fact, working on this project. In my last project log I was trying to find a way to enable/disable the hacked RT8299 buck regulator to give me a open-circuit voltage (Voc) reading, which...
17/6: Still searching for a 3S pack of 18650's that looks like it might actually have the claimed capacity, but there are so many lies on eBay... But I have now chosen some solar panels (picked to stack side-by-side to completely fill the top panel...
Since the very beginning of this project in may, things have evolved a lot. I am now extremely honored to be one of the finalists of Hackaday Prize 2022. Consequently the project has followed its own track and is now significantly "bigger" than...
My choice of an inexpensive micro-controller has a cost. This product has firmware that will probably never be upgraded since there is no facility to easily load new code (no interface and not much space left over for a bootloader). So the...
I was looking over the schematics recently looking for ways to reduce cost, and it occurred to me that the current topology isn't ideal. Currently, I'm implementing a buck regulator using the PIC16F1823. The MCU is driving the IR2302 bridge controller,...
Finally got around to taking some product pictures and writing enough documentation to be able to start selling the prototypes I built on Tindie!Hopefully with the connection diagram and design information it will be possible for most people with some...
Nor do we need ADCs either none.I want a cool hat like that!Turns out, with some clever wizardly, I figured out a way to get rid of the DAC and the ADC to make this MPPT power supply. "How and why" you may ask? Let me start with the why.My current implementation...
It's always a good day when PCBs make it to your mailbox. There's an inner child that gets excited with the prospect of getting new toys to play with.Two days ago was no exception. This latest batch implement the Proper RT8299 hack on a PCB (see this...
One really neat feature of the LiFePO4wered/18650 that I haven't talked much about is the ability to power it from a 5-7V solar panel. I've only been able to test this just now because the component reel I was waiting for makes it possible to do this,...
There are only a handful of parts to build this - a few resistors, decoupling caps, headers, PIC, and of course, the LCD. There are two 6-pin headers. The male is for programming the PIC directly with a PICKit 3. The female is just...
Okay, this update has been a long time coming. University is insane, and I have been making very very slow progress on this project. So this update is retroactively documenting progress I made over summer, I'll post another update today about some more...