I'm trying to make a small robot and it is limited to 14.4 volts; this is all batteries added together, so I can either try to run the whole thing off of one battery (or two) or use several smaller voltage batteries. The things that need powered are an RC receiver, a motor shield (where I want as much power as possible), and the Arduino itself. So my question is, can I power the Arduino itself off of 5 volts input in the USB port by taking the thing in the link below, cutting off its head, and soldering on a USB cord to it? Or does USB not just have power wires in it. All the Arduino has to do is calculations, because the motor shield is self powered. Would that draw more then the 100 mA that that adapter can provide? The other option that I was thinking about was running both the Arduino and the motor board off of a 9 volt battery in through the normal external power jack. Can you split the leads off of a battery like that? If something of this doesn't make sense, I'm very happy to try to explain it better. Any other suggestions to power the Arduino by itself that minimalisms the voltage to it would be gratefully accepted.
Link talked about in first post, can't post links without one normal post, so it is in this one.
You definitely have a lot of options available. The Arduino itself will draw about 30-40mA, so well within the 100mA you have available from your step-up converter.
You can hack the device to solder on to a USB cord (it's OK if the data wires are unconnected), but it's easier to just take the output of the step-up device and connect it right to the +5V output pin of the Arduino. This is not an officially approved method of powering the board but lots of people seem to do it with no ill effects.
I wouldn't recommend running the Arduino and motor board off a standard 9V battery. Those have very low energy storage and their voltage drops down by a lot when you draw lots of current from them (when powering motors for example).
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The Gadget Shield: accelerometer, RGB LED, IR transmit/receive, light sensor, potentiometers, pushbuttons
Thanks for your reply Rugged Circuits. From your response, I think I will go with soldering to a USB plug so that I don't have to plug into the ports; I feel this method is a little more official. I was also more thinking a rechargeable RC 9 volt battery. Thanks again; I'm loving the open-source environment, everyone seems happy to help. ;D
Oh, and on a random side note, please don't use fancy fonts like you did at first. I'm sure I'm not the only one annoyed...
You are aware that "volts" and "power" are different, right?
Yes, power and volts are different. I meant in the terms of using the "power jack." I was using power in the colloquial sense.
hello 4rnd, I m 4rm Asia n I saw a bollywood movie "3-idiots" in dis movie a helicopter type circuit was designed in a flexible manner, it was opposing gravity, I want 2 mak dat 4 my own, I m a beginner cn any1 elaborate me d fw trends n stylus of dat circuit or any do-it-urself gravity opposing circuit. thanks n cheers to electronics. regards