Is it possible to get the Arduino to tell if a battery is fully charged? (or at least very close to fully charged, for this project it doesn't have to be perfect).
Part of the project is to charge multiple battery packs at once (eg. Anker Powercore Mini http://www.ianker.com/product/A1107011) and I want a way for the Arduino to know if a battery is or is close to fully charged.
I haven't come across a project on this forum or anywhere else on the internet that has done this (if someone could even just send me a link to somewhere that would be a huge help). In my searches I've seen the IC LT1510 come up a few times, it's my understanding that this IC keeps a constant voltage and current but can it also measure the voltage of the battery? I appreciate any help.
Is it possible to get the Arduino to tell if a battery is fully charged? (or at least very close to fully charged, for this project it doesn't have to be perfect).
Part of the project is to charge multiple battery packs at once (eg. Anker Powercore Mini http://www.ianker.com/product/A1107011) and I want a way for the Arduino to know if a battery is or is close to fully charged.
I haven't come across a project on this forum or anywhere else on the internet that has done this (if someone could even just send me a link to somewhere that would be a huge help). In my searches I've seen the IC LT1510 come up a few times, it's my understanding that this IC keeps a constant voltage and current but can it also measure the voltage of the battery? I appreciate any help.
Kevin
RE: Is it possible to get the Arduino to tell if a battery is fully charged?
Yes, it is possible.
But you need post some graphs, charts or other data that describes how this battery is charged and then how to determine when the battery is fully charged.
The easiest way would be to hack into the enclosure and monitor the battery voltage directly. Those power modules usually have a single cell LiPo or Li-Ion and a boost converter to raise the voltage to 5V for output.
You could monitor the current going into the pack from the USB supply but then you need some sort or current sensor.
In the above linked thread, I mention my effort to get a digital signal from this meter. I monitored the 7-segment display's pins and had a microcontroller monitor the voltage and current readings.
Here's my contraption to change the cheap meter into a device to monitor power.
I make no claim this is a good way to monitor current. There are lots of easier ways to do this. I had been curious about monitoring 7-segment displays and this seemed like a good chance to try it. I used some '165 parallel to serial shift registers to save on pins and a $5 OLED as a display.
I didn't use an Arduino for the project, but an Arduino could also be used as a convoluted current meter.
As I said at the beginning of this reply, I think monitoring the battery voltage directly would be easiest. LiPo and Li-Ion are generally charged to a specific voltage. I think you could get a good idea of the charge state from the voltage of the battery.
If you monitor the current, then you'd just wait until the current dropped to near zero.
Depending on the battery type, a battery is not necessarily fully charged just because it is at its nominal voltage. Lead-acids, for example, are first charged up to a level about at nominal voltage, but then must be saturation-charged for many hours to reach full charge.
To understand what you can manage here, go read up on the charging protocol for the battery type(s) your are concerned with.
jrdoner:
Depending on the battery type, a battery is not necessarily fully charged just because it is at its nominal voltage.
If the battery in the power pack is "normal" LiPo or Li-Ion then voltage is a good indication of the battery charge state.
I think most LiPo/Li-Ion chargers start out constant current and switch to constant voltage until the battery reaches its full charge.
You wouldn't be able to monitor the voltage from the power pack's output jack. There's likely a boost converting between the battery and the output jack.