EnergyShield Arduino Rechargeable Battery (video)

Arduino developers and hobbyists looking for a portable battery shield to powered their projects might be interested in a new shield called the EnergyShield Arduino rechargeable battery.

The EnergyShield Arduino rechargeable battery has been created by Nightshade Electronics and has three main internal functions including a circuit to boost the battery’s nominal voltage of 3.7V to 5V and a a lithium-polymer battery charging circuit. Watch the video after the jump to learn more about the EnergyShield Arduino rechargeable battery project and see it in action.

Together with a 500 mA output and an on-board fuel gauge IC thats allows users to measure of battery voltage, current, and accumulated charge by means of a Two-Wire Interface (TWI/I2C) all contained in Arduino Shield Form-Factor (Uno and Leo/R3). Its creators explains more about their EnergyShield Arduino rechargeable battery and why they are looking for Kickstarter funding.

“Presently the energyShield has a capacity of 1200 mAh, a nominal current sourcing of 500 mA and, at full charge, a maximum current sourcing of 825 mA. We are looking into improving the current rating of the board to allow the energyShield to power even more demanding projects. The reason for the varying current limitation on the energyShield has to do with the output voltage (5V) being stepped up from the battery voltage (3.7V nominal).

Because the battery voltage is lower than the output voltage, the current from the battery is larger than the current drawn from the energyShield at 5V. Assuming that the power from the battery is equal to the power used at 5V, the battery current (100% efficient) can be illustrated as such: I(bat) = I(out) 5V / V(bat).

What this says is that as the battery dies (voltage decreases), the current drawn from the batter will increase. Therefore the load must be limited, so that the current drawn from the battery does not exceed the battery limitation, even at the lowest battery voltages.”

So if you think the EnergyShield Arduino rechargeable battery is something you could benefit from, visit the Kickstarter website now to make a pledge and help EnergyShield rechargeable battery become a reality.

Source: Kickstarter