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Arduino Battery Saver - Watchdog and Sleep Functions
 
Arduino Battery Saver - Watchdog and Sleep Functions


 

Arduino Battery Saver - Watchdog and Sleep Functions

 


This example shows how to make use of the Watchdog and Sleep functions provided by the ATMEGA168 chip (decimila). These functions are useful if you want to build low power consuming devices operated by battery or solar power.

The reduced power consumption is achieved by through a intermittent operation of the system .In case of Arduino your main loop will be executed once before the system is put into the sleep mode. After a few seconds t the watchdog wakes the system up and the main loop is executed again. The ratio between main loop execution time and watchdog time determines the amount of power that will be saved.

When we assume that the time to measure a sensor and making some decisions will take 10 millisecond and the watchdog is set to 8 seconds the on/off ratio is 800 which extends the battery live time by this factor.


Arduino Battery Saver - Watchdog and Sleep Functions

Battery live time calculation

Now we want to know long we can operate our device with standard alkaline AA Cells. These Cells even the cheap ones provide between 2000 ad 3000 milliamps per hour (mAh). We assume our system takes 20 mA when operating and 0.05 mA when sleeping.

In normal operation with a current of 20mA the battery will last 2000/20 = 100 hours or about 4 days.
In intermittent operation with a factor of 800 the operating current is reduced to 20mA/800 = 0.025mA plus the current that is drawn in sleep mode 0.05mA.
Now with 2000/(0,025+0,05) we come to 27000 hours lifetime which is about 3 years.

To demonstrate the watchdog and sleep functions we build a little device that measures the daylight and activates a sound when nigthfalls. We wont use the Arduino hardware here because the USB chip and voltage regulator takes too much power in the sleep mode. So we solder a little circuit around a 28 pole DIL Socket where we insert the atmega chip from the original arduino board after uploading the code .

Arduino minimal Hardware / Nightingale schematic

Burn the Bootloader

Instead of raping the arduino board its atmega chip we recommend to buy some blank atmega 168 pu-20 chips and burn a bootloader to them. What you need is a AVRIPS-MKII programmer (not so expensive) and a 9 Volt dc power supply to run the arduino board without usb. When you extract the chips be careful not to bend the IC pins a screwdriver is a helpful tool for this job.

Source Code






Arduino Battery Saver - Watchdog and Sleep Functions





Accurate LC Meter Capacitance Inductance Meter with 16F628 and LCD
Volt Ampere Meter with 16F876 Microcontroller and LCD display
 
Accurate LC Meter

Build your own Accurate LC Meter (Capacitance Inductance Meter) and start making your own coils and inductors. This LC Meter allows to measure incredibly small inductances making it perfect tool for making all types of RF coils and inductors. LC Meter can measure inductances starting from 10nH - 1000nH, 1uH - 1000uH, 1mH - 100mH and capacitances from 0.1pF up to 900nF. The circuit includes an auto ranging as well as reset switch and produces very accurate and stable readings.
PIC Volt Ampere Meter

Volt Ampere Meter measures voltage of 0-70V or 0-500V with 100mV resolution and current consumption 0-10A or more with 10mA resolution. The meter is a perfect addition to any power supply, battery chargers and other electronic projects where voltage and current must be monitored. The meter uses PIC16F876A microcontroller with 16x2 backlighted LCD.

50MHz 60MHz Frequency Meter / Counter with 16F628 & LCD
1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator
60MHz Frequency Meter / Counter

Frequency Meter / Counter measures frequency from 10Hz to 60MHz with 10Hz resolution. It is a very useful bench test equipment for testing and finding out the frequency of various devices with unknown frequency such as oscillators, radio receivers, transmitters, function generators, crystals, etc.
1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator

1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator produces high quality sine, square and triangle waveforms of high-stability and accuracy. The output waveforms can be both amplitude and frequency modulated. Output of 1Hz - 2MHz XR2206 Function Generator can be connected directly to 60MHz Counter for setting precise frequency output.

BA1404 HI-FI Stereo FM Transmitter
USB IO Board PIC18F2455 / PIC18F2550
BA1404 HI-FI Stereo FM Transmitter

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USB IO Board

USB IO Board is a tiny spectacular little development board / parallel port replacement featuring PIC18F2455/PIC18F2550 microcontroller. USB IO Board is compatible with Windows / Mac OSX / Linux computers. When attached to Windows IO board will show up as RS232 COM port. You can control 16 individual microcontroller I/O pins by sending simple serial commands. USB IO Board is self-powered by USB port and can provide up to 500mA for electronic projects. USB IO Board is breadboard compatible.

ESR Meter / Transistor Tester Kit
Audiophile Headphone Amplifier Kit
 
ESR Meter / Capacitance / Inductance / Transistor Tester Kit

ESR Meter kit is an amazing multimeter that measures ESR values, capacitance (100pF - 20,000uF), inductance, resistance (0.1 Ohm - 20 MOhm), tests many different types of transistors such as NPN, PNP, FETs, MOSFETs, Thyristors, SCRs, Triacs and many types of diodes. It also analyzes transistor's characteristics such as voltage and gain. It is an irreplaceable tool for troubleshooting and repairing electronic equipment by determining performance and health of electrolytic capacitors. Unlike other ESR Meters that only measure ESR value this one measures capacitor's ESR value as well as its capacitance all at the same time.
Audiophile Headphone Amplifier Kit

Audiophile headphone amplifier kit includes high quality audio grade components such as Burr Brown OPA2134 opamp, ALPS volume control potentiometer, Ti TLE2426 rail splitter, Ultra-Low ESR 220uF/25V Panasonic FM filtering capacitors, High quality WIMA input and decoupling capacitors and Vishay Dale resistors. 8-DIP machined IC socket allows to swap OPA2134 with many other dual opamp chips such as OPA2132, OPA2227, OPA2228, dual OPA132, OPA627, etc. Headphone amplifier is small enough to fit in Altoids tin box, and thanks to low power consumption may be supplied from a single 9V battery.
 

Arduino Prototype Kit
RF Remote Control 433MHz Four Channel
 
Arduino Prototype Kit

Arduino Prototype is a spectacular development board fully compatible with Arduino Pro. It's breadboard compatible so it can be plugged into a breadboard for quick prototyping, and it has VCC & GND power pins available on both sides of PCB. It's small, power efficient, yet customizable through onboard 2 x 7 perfboard that can be used for connecting various sensors and connectors. Arduino Prototype uses all standard through-hole components for easy construction, two of which are hidden underneath IC socket. Board features 28-PIN DIP IC socket, user replaceable ATmega328 microcontroller flashed with Arduino bootloader, 16MHz crystal resonator and a reset switch. It has 14 digital input/output pins (0-13) of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs and 6 analog inputs (A0-A5). Arduino sketches are uploaded through any USB-Serial adapter connected to 6-PIN ICSP female header. Board is supplied by 2-5V voltage and may be powered by a battery such as Lithium Ion cell, two AA cells, external power supply or USB power adapter.
200m 4-Channel 433MHz Wireless RF Remote Control

Having the ability to control various appliances inside or outside of your house wirelessly is a huge convenience, and can make your life much easier and fun. RF remote control provides long range of up to 200m / 650ft and can find many uses for controlling different devices, and it works even through the walls. You can control lights, fans, AC system, computer, printer, amplifier, robots, garage door, security systems, motor-driven curtains, motorized window blinds, door locks, sprinklers, motorized projection screens and anything else you can think of.
 

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