CubeCell AB-01 v1.2 + solar panel + LiPo and power supply

#1

Hello all,
I need to clarify some things about power supply for CubeCell devices…

I would like to use AB-01 (ver 1.2 and ver 2 in the near future) for my outdoor device project.
Also I would need to check the battery status time to time - there is example code for this…

As far I know I can connect to AB-01 solar panel and LiPo battery in the same time.
For solar panel we have VS pin and for Lipo we have dedicated plug JST 1.25.
So here I have some questions:

  • if we have these two things - VS pin and JST 1.25 - is it means that battery would charge from sun?
    so AB-01 can charge batteries like usual charge module?
  • also we have Vin pin for external power supply which can be 5V and VDD pin which can be used only with 3.3V power source.
    But if I want to use battery as power source - I can ONLY use JST 1.25 connector and NOT VDD or Vin?
  • also - measuring of battery status (voltage) possible only with battery connected to JST?

So finally - I can use only JST and VS for power supply for my device? There no any other variants? This is the only correct way to have LiPo solar charger and battery measuring?

#2

Correct

You can supply power through with the VDD or Vin pins. Power through the VDD pin, however, is not internally regulated so should be a steady 3.3V. Power [4.2-7V] through the Vin pin is treated the same as power provided through the USB connector except that there is no fuse—both are internally regulated to deliver a 3.3V supply to the board.

If using the internal battery management circuitry, correct.

You can use any of the pins you have mentioned to power the device, although the above mentioned caveats apply.

If you want to use the onboard battery management circuitry, correct.

I have used all of these features, except providing 3.3V though the VDD pin, in applications.

1 Like
#3

OK thank you for explanation.

I connected LiPo battery to JST connector and test low power mode.
so far I can see 0.04mA consumption during sleep which is pretty big…
I use this eхample:

with small modification which was described here:

#4

You could try explicitly turning Vext OFF before calling the lowPowerHandler.

#5

sure I did it… this is my test code…

#include "Arduino.h"

//#include "LoRa_APP.h"

#include "LoRaWan_APP.h"

#define timetillsleep 5000
#define timetillwakeup 10000
static TimerEvent_t sleep;
static TimerEvent_t wakeUp;
uint8_t lowpower=1;
void onSleep()
{
  Serial.printf("Going into lowpower mode, %d ms later wake up.\r\n",timetillwakeup);
  lowpower=1;

  Serial.flush();
  Serial.end();

  // pinMode(Vext, OUTPUT);
  // digitalWrite(Vext, HIGH);    // Turn off the external power before sleeping

  //timetillwakeup ms later wake up;
  TimerSetValue( &wakeUp, timetillwakeup );
  TimerStart( &wakeUp );
}

void onWakeUp()
{
  Serial.printf("Woke up, %d ms later into lowpower mode.\r\n",timetillsleep);
  lowpower=0;

  //timetillsleep ms later into lowpower mode;
  // TimerSetValue( &sleep, timetillsleep );
  // TimerStart( &sleep );
}

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Radio.Sleep( );

  TimerInit( &sleep, onSleep );
  TimerInit( &wakeUp, onWakeUp );
  onSleep();
}

void loop() {
  // if(lowpower){
  //   lowPowerHandler();
  // }
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

  Serial.println("test");
  onSleep();

  pinMode(Vext, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(Vext, HIGH);    // Turn off the external power before sleeping

  lowPowerHandler();
}
#6

on my CubeCell AB-01 ver. 1.2 I still have pretty much power consumption in the deep sleep mode == 0.04mA
I power the board via JST 1.25 pin from LiPo battery which is almost full charged == 4v.

when I power the board from LiPo battery which is discharged and has 3.66v - power consumption in sleep mode about 15uA

I saw this thread - Power consumption in Sleep mode (Vbat /battery powered)

where is the info that probably i would need to modify my board - remove some resistor and solder jumper.
my questions is:

Do I need to modify my ver 1.2 board?
Also - would I need to do it on new ver 2 boards?

and my second question is:
If I decide to power device via VDD pin which has range (3.3v - 3.7v) - what the better battery type to power CubeCell boards in terms of having the lower power consumption in sleep mode?

I suppose it is not LiPo which is 4.25v when it full charged and thus -outside from recommended diapason of voltage.
LiFePo type would be good?
but how to charge this type of battery? will it charge from Solar panel connected to Cubecell? Or I need to have separate charge module in the circuit?