help in detecting power level

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

Hi,
I am powering an Arduino with a LiPo 2 Cels 7.6V battery that will supply current to the board, some sensors and two continuous RC servos. However, LiPos can not go below 6V (3.0V per cell) otherwise they get damaged and can not be recharged.

Does anyone have a suggestion about how can I use the Arduino to continuously test the voltage value and alarm (or shutdown) when it reaches the 6V?

TIA

araripe

2

Use one of the analogue inputs?

3

Using an analog pin looks obvious to me but can the Arduino analog pins handle more than 5V?

A red something about using AREF pin and the analogReference() function to change the top value (to more than 5V) but I dont know how to do that. Is it safe?

TIA

Araripe

4

can the Arduino analog pins handle more than 5V?

Not more than once.

something about using AREF pin and the analogReference() function to change the top value (to more than 5V) but I dont know how to do that. Is it safe?

No.

You could use a voltage divider to drop the voltage to 5V or less.