Hi, I'm trying to power my project from an 18650 battery using an Adafruit MiniBoost to supply 5V, 1A - tested powering the 2 steppers and 1 solenoid from MiniBoost while Arduino is powered from computer USB and it's working.
Now I need to power Arduino from the MiniBoost and I'm having trouble understanding how that's going to work.
I want to be able to plug the USB for programming. My assumptions are:
•I don't want USB 5v flowing to the MiniBoost
•I don't want the USB 5v/Arduino trying to power the steppers & solenoid which pull 500mA - 1A if the 18650 is disconnected. (Would this damage the PC, Arduino, both? Or nothing, just not work?)
My guess is to add a diode between MiniBoost & 5v pin on the Arduino. Would this be the solution?
The solenoid would only be activated for some milliseconds and never be activated at the same time as the steppers. Also the runtime of the project is also relatively short, maybe a couple minutes at a time maximum; never continuous hours of operation.