How much current does the leonardo board can take?

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

I have bought a leonardo board in order to start my project but I don't know how much current it can take, in the board information page it says it can take voltage between 7-12 V but it doesn't say anything about current.

Thanks in advance for your help.

2

Are you asking what maximum current is safe for your supply to give?

If so, the rated current of your supply can be as high as you like. You can stick it on a car battery which can provide 100s of amps, but the board will only draw what it needs.

3

You could identify the voltage regulator, either on your board or in the schematic, and then look it up on Google to discover what the maximum current you can draw is. And then allow a bit extra so your power supply can handle it comfortably.

4

Depending on what you're powering and how, you can draw current with external devices via the board. I think the traces can handle as much as 1.5-2 A safely.
But that's not the most limiting factor.

Using the Leonardo schematic and parts datasheets:

  • If drawing current from the 5V pin, the current goes thru the regulator which has a max current of 1A and a max dissipated power [(Vin - Vout)*I]... I can't recall the value so you have to look at the datasheet.
  • If drawing current from the Vin pin, there's no other limit since the protecting diode is in parallel between the power rails. So I'd say: draw no more than 2A if your power supply can handle it.