Thank you so much for making this video. All of the others were using third party power supplies and stuff, and you were the first to make a very good in depth video on how to power it with a battery. You really saved my project.
Awesome video! Some Arduino's also have a VIN input pin where you can add 7-12V (I usually still add a regulator to avoid using the built in one). If you haven't yet, highly recommend trying out the ESP32. It's amazing.
I talk about the Vin pin at around 16:30. I should've added the chapter markings by now, but the hard drive containing my footage was going bad so I took it out, so I can't access my shotcut project for this video. That means it's a bit more of a hassle than usual to put up chapter markings. I got some brief exposure to ESP32, but haven't found a great use case for them yet. I honestly don't use arduino much either, I use Rasbperry Pi a lot, for the Wifi and camera capabilities mostly. ESP32 does look much more powerful than Arduino though, and a board is still just 3$ so that's very compelling indeed
I'm pretty sure I've worked on a project with a Raspberry Pi Zero W using the 3v3 pin as battery input so if you don't have 5v you can try 3v3 the same way you did in the video. My guess is it goes straight into the IC so you better be very sure your 3v3 is regulated. The 5v pin on the other hand goes through the internal 5v -> 3v3 regulator AFAIK.
I tried to look this up, but it seems a bit inconclusive. I'm honestly not sure if it works, I'd also not use a LiPo directly on 3V3 because you're going far out of spec, and that leads me to believe you'd fry something at a high state of charge.
@@antalz You definitely would fry something in that case! Also I looked up the files and we actually used the 5v pin for the project I mentioned so I'm not sure if 3v3 input works either :c I should've done that before the first comment but I forgot I had a way to check the project files. My bad.
Im not sure if the pi 2,3,4 are the same/similar lay out as the zero but there is a 4pin header thats unpopulated on the zero that dose power and usb, allowing for the whole gpio to be used with a shield still. I think its the 4 pins by the usb sockets on the pi3 you are using, im not sure but you should do a continunuity check on them!
I had to look into this, but for the large Raspberry Pi models the 4 pins appear to be for PoE HATs. The power itself is turned into 5 volts and supplied via the 4-pin header as I describe in this video. The 4 separate pins connect to the Ethernet jack. For the Zero the 4 pins are completely different. One pair is a reset-pin and ground, while the other pair is a video output and its ground. The silkscreen also says "RUN" and "TV" for these pins. I continuity checked it all, the 5V has no continuity with any of the 4 pins on the Pi 3 or the Zero, ground has no continuity with any of the pins on the Pi 3, and ground has continuity with 2 of the 4 pins on the Zero. The Pi 3 also has RUN and PEN pins in a group of 2 near the PoE pins. They're unpopulated by default.
@Antalz - Thanks for the video. I also see folks using a 3.7V Lipo and boosting the voltage to 5V using a COTS DC-DC boost converter. What is NOT clear to me is if that boost converter can drive 3A which is required for RPi4? I was researching a COTS or self-made PCB for my bot that can act as a onboard charger for the 12V Lipo with all the voltage & current protection and then down convert from 12V to 5V 3A to power my RPi4. Have you cracked this already? I have found a 7.4V Lipo UPS RPi Hat but not a 11.1V Hat which would have solved my problem.
You can find such boost converters, but it won't help you. In practice you have to connect the motors directly to the battery, and except tiny motors they won't work on 3.7V. That's why in practice you nearly always have a buck converter, not a boost converter. What you have to do, in a nutshell, is buy a battery management system for your battery. You can find tons of BMS on aliexpress. The BMS ensures you can charge and discharge your LiPo or Li-ion bank safely. The motors connect to the BMS output via the motor controller, and you also connect a 5V buck converter to the BMS output to run the Pi and other electronics. I haven't actually done this myself, mind you. I just use an Imax B6 to charge my batteries.
The fuse amperage should equal the maximum current draw of the whole system, plus a bit of margin. In my tank for example the Pi and electronics need about 10W max, which is 0.5A from a 22V battery. The motors that are driven from the battery need about 15A max though, and because there are 2 that's a max total current of 15A. With a bit of margin I think I selected a 40A fuse. If you're just driving some electronics or low power stuff you can go much lower, 2A or perhaps even lower. Just go as low as you can without getting unintended fuse triggers. This gives you most assurance that if a short circuit does occur the fuse will pop.
Thank you for the great video! I'm planning to power a raspberry pi 4 4gb with a 7,2V NiMH battery, which value do I need for a fuse? Is 3A enough? Thank you very much in advance.
3A is enough, you can go down to 2A as well, assuming you're not hooking up too many accesories to the Pi. I'm using fairly high-amperage fuses generally because I also have DC motors on the same battery.
@@Mr.Mariuzz Ok, be careful with that though, motors can draw a large spike of current on startup. This can lead to the battery voltage dropping and resetting your Pi, basically the same problem as having high-resistance connection. That spike can also overload that separate step-down converter. I would generally recommend connecting motors directly to the battery via a fuse, except for tiny motors.
@@antalz Thank you very much for that tip, but some questions ragarding your answer have come up to me. Which other option do i have to convert the voltage from 7,2V to 5V if I can't use the step down converter and how big should the fuse in this case be? Wouldn't the high current peaks destroy the fuse too? Thank you very much and I wish you a happy new year :D
@@Mr.Mariuzz Yeah those are basically the problems you run into with DC motors. What I do is connect the motors directly to the battery, with a motor controller in between of course. This does mean the battery voltage must match with the motor voltage, but there's usually quite a lot of leeway there. The fuses must generally be rated for a quite high amperage, usually the sum of the stall currents of the motors.
Yeah you can use those, but safety on them is tricky to put into words. The chance they'll catch fire is very very low honestly, but it's definitely there and it's higher then when you get a known name-brand supply like Mean Well. Make sure you have solid connections, and make sure you set the output to 5V before connecting your Pi. A lot of fires seem to actually start at the terminal block where the wire goes into the module. I would be totally fine using them for robot projects, but I would not leave them running unattended personally.
Depends on the project. I think for my smaller robot 20A, for my larger tank I think it was a 40A fuse. It depends on the peak current draw of your motors, your Pi doesn't have that much to do with it. If you're powering just the Pi a very low amp fuse will be safer.
I only briefly mentioned linear regulators, and I noted how inefficient they are. All other parts in the video are switching regulators, including TSR-2-2450. With respect to the fuse, yes you do bypass it if you use the GPIO pins. In my opinion it's not a big deal.
Thank you so much for making this video. All of the others were using third party power supplies and stuff, and you were the first to make a very good in depth video on how to power it with a battery. You really saved my project.
Thanks a lot, really motivating to hear people can move forward with their projects by watching my videos. Good luck with your project!
I wish I came to watch a video like this before I fried my circuits 😑
Excellent video, well presented Sir!
Awesome video! Some Arduino's also have a VIN input pin where you can add 7-12V (I usually still add a regulator to avoid using the built in one). If you haven't yet, highly recommend trying out the ESP32. It's amazing.
I talk about the Vin pin at around 16:30. I should've added the chapter markings by now, but the hard drive containing my footage was going bad so I took it out, so I can't access my shotcut project for this video. That means it's a bit more of a hassle than usual to put up chapter markings.
I got some brief exposure to ESP32, but haven't found a great use case for them yet. I honestly don't use arduino much either, I use Rasbperry Pi a lot, for the Wifi and camera capabilities mostly. ESP32 does look much more powerful than Arduino though, and a board is still just 3$ so that's very compelling indeed
@@antalz I totally missed that part, my bad. Yeah the ESP32 is really robust w wifi/bluetooth built in. My new favorite board.
I've been waiting for this video all my life :) ..haha...subscribed Sir!!
Thanks mate, and good luck with your builds
and I am pretty sure if you wire the supply on the GPIO you by pass the internal VREG
use the USB power plug
Brilliant! Exactly what I was looking for. Felt like I was watching 💯 ways to power your Pi. 😁
Not quite 100, maybe I will get there one day!
Thanks this TSR is perfect thing for my project :)
Thank you, and good luck with your project!
I'm pretty sure I've worked on a project with a Raspberry Pi Zero W using the 3v3 pin as battery input so if you don't have 5v you can try 3v3 the same way you did in the video. My guess is it goes straight into the IC so you better be very sure your 3v3 is regulated. The 5v pin on the other hand goes through the internal 5v -> 3v3 regulator AFAIK.
I tried to look this up, but it seems a bit inconclusive. I'm honestly not sure if it works, I'd also not use a LiPo directly on 3V3 because you're going far out of spec, and that leads me to believe you'd fry something at a high state of charge.
@@antalz You definitely would fry something in that case! Also I looked up the files and we actually used the 5v pin for the project I mentioned so I'm not sure if 3v3 input works either :c
I should've done that before the first comment but I forgot I had a way to check the project files. My bad.
@@bandreghetti7663 Yeah I did find some comments about feeding 3V3 into the 5V pin. But again, not entirely clear to me if that works.
Excellent video, thank you so much
Im not sure if the pi 2,3,4 are the same/similar lay out as the zero but there is a 4pin header thats unpopulated on the zero that dose power and usb, allowing for the whole gpio to be used with a shield still. I think its the 4 pins by the usb sockets on the pi3 you are using, im not sure but you should do a continunuity check on them!
I had to look into this, but for the large Raspberry Pi models the 4 pins appear to be for PoE HATs. The power itself is turned into 5 volts and supplied via the 4-pin header as I describe in this video. The 4 separate pins connect to the Ethernet jack.
For the Zero the 4 pins are completely different. One pair is a reset-pin and ground, while the other pair is a video output and its ground. The silkscreen also says "RUN" and "TV" for these pins.
I continuity checked it all, the 5V has no continuity with any of the 4 pins on the Pi 3 or the Zero, ground has no continuity with any of the pins on the Pi 3, and ground has continuity with 2 of the 4 pins on the Zero.
The Pi 3 also has RUN and PEN pins in a group of 2 near the PoE pins. They're unpopulated by default.
Great video, subscribed.
Thanks a lot!
@Antalz - Thanks for the video. I also see folks using a 3.7V Lipo and boosting the voltage to 5V using a COTS DC-DC boost converter. What is NOT clear to me is if that boost converter can drive 3A which is required for RPi4? I was researching a COTS or self-made PCB for my bot that can act as a onboard charger for the 12V Lipo with all the voltage & current protection and then down convert from 12V to 5V 3A to power my RPi4. Have you cracked this already? I have found a 7.4V Lipo UPS RPi Hat but not a 11.1V Hat which would have solved my problem.
You can find such boost converters, but it won't help you. In practice you have to connect the motors directly to the battery, and except tiny motors they won't work on 3.7V. That's why in practice you nearly always have a buck converter, not a boost converter.
What you have to do, in a nutshell, is buy a battery management system for your battery. You can find tons of BMS on aliexpress. The BMS ensures you can charge and discharge your LiPo or Li-ion bank safely. The motors connect to the BMS output via the motor controller, and you also connect a 5V buck converter to the BMS output to run the Pi and other electronics.
I haven't actually done this myself, mind you. I just use an Imax B6 to charge my batteries.
What maximum amperage would you recommend, for the inline fuse? Many thanks for a very informative video!
The fuse amperage should equal the maximum current draw of the whole system, plus a bit of margin. In my tank for example the Pi and electronics need about 10W max, which is 0.5A from a 22V battery. The motors that are driven from the battery need about 15A max though, and because there are 2 that's a max total current of 15A. With a bit of margin I think I selected a 40A fuse. If you're just driving some electronics or low power stuff you can go much lower, 2A or perhaps even lower. Just go as low as you can without getting unintended fuse triggers. This gives you most assurance that if a short circuit does occur the fuse will pop.
good
Hi there! awesome video, how do you know which fuse to use?
Thanks! The best fuse is the one that has a current limit just a bit higher than the maximum current your system should draw at any point.
Thank you for the great video! I'm planning to power a raspberry pi 4 4gb with a 7,2V NiMH battery, which value do I need for a fuse? Is 3A enough? Thank you very much in advance.
3A is enough, you can go down to 2A as well, assuming you're not hooking up too many accesories to the Pi. I'm using fairly high-amperage fuses generally because I also have DC motors on the same battery.
@@antalz Thank you very much, I will use a seperate step-down converter for the Motor anyways so I think i will go for the 3A fuse.
@@Mr.Mariuzz Ok, be careful with that though, motors can draw a large spike of current on startup. This can lead to the battery voltage dropping and resetting your Pi, basically the same problem as having high-resistance connection. That spike can also overload that separate step-down converter. I would generally recommend connecting motors directly to the battery via a fuse, except for tiny motors.
@@antalz Thank you very much for that tip, but some questions ragarding your answer have come up to me. Which other option do i have to convert the voltage from 7,2V to 5V if I can't use the step down converter and how big should the fuse in this case be? Wouldn't the high current peaks destroy the fuse too? Thank you very much and I wish you a happy new year :D
@@Mr.Mariuzz Yeah those are basically the problems you run into with DC motors. What I do is connect the motors directly to the battery, with a motor controller in between of course. This does mean the battery voltage must match with the motor voltage, but there's usually quite a lot of leeway there. The fuses must generally be rated for a quite high amperage, usually the sum of the stall currents of the motors.
can we use buck converter (xlsemi xl4015e1) is it safe?
Yeah you can use those, but safety on them is tricky to put into words. The chance they'll catch fire is very very low honestly, but it's definitely there and it's higher then when you get a known name-brand supply like Mean Well. Make sure you have solid connections, and make sure you set the output to 5V before connecting your Pi. A lot of fires seem to actually start at the terminal block where the wire goes into the module. I would be totally fine using them for robot projects, but I would not leave them running unattended personally.
@@antalz thank you : )
what is the rating of the fuse you used?
Depends on the project. I think for my smaller robot 20A, for my larger tank I think it was a 40A fuse. It depends on the peak current draw of your motors, your Pi doesn't have that much to do with it. If you're powering just the Pi a very low amp fuse will be safer.
dude don't use a voltage regulators
they are not efficient at all
this application requires a buck/boost cards, they are cheap and easy to setup
I only briefly mentioned linear regulators, and I noted how inefficient they are. All other parts in the video are switching regulators, including TSR-2-2450.
With respect to the fuse, yes you do bypass it if you use the GPIO pins. In my opinion it's not a big deal.