So I am trying to make a project I made as small as possible and up until know it has been powered by my computer but now I want to be able to use it without the USB what is tiniest (in size) battery I can use. I know I can use a nine volt battery but it so big and I want to make my project small. So I want to know what is the smallest (in size) battery. Also to power it using the battery I would hook the positive side of the battery to 5 volts right?
Thanks so much.
A "bare bones" Arduino can run from a coin cell for months to years, or use a Pro Mini with the voltage regulator and LED removed. The Nano is not a good choice for battery powered projects because of the USB chip power consumption.
Study this tutorial for the details of low power battery operation.
Battery life will depend on battery size and whatever additional things, like sensors or LEDs, will be powered.
Yes, connect + of battery to VCC/5V.
How long does your project need to run?
A 3.3V Promini running on two AAA batteries will run for a while, up to 100 hours with 10mA draw.
(1000mAH capacity)
some sensors are not good with battery power.
HC-05 ultrasonic sensor
you can power the micro-controller, but the sensor will drain the battery much faster.
You can use the Arduino to turn the sensors off via a digital pin , and only turn on when you need a reading .
And the project is ?
There are a lot of 'small' batteries that can for instance power an Arduino Pro Mini, however 'small' batteries may not be able to supply the level of current that the rest of the project needs.
So the battery you can use really depends on what the project actually is.
CR2016 is the smallest that I can think of and that can power an ATmega328 (at 8 MHz). But then I'd rather go for the CR2032 even though it's twice as large.
Thanks to all of you I figured out what battery I am going to use.
Thanks again.
Well, if you’re your willing to shift a bit, you could get one of the newer boards that includes a battery connecting for a variety of lipoly battery pack, and charger circuitry.
Arduino’s MKR SERIES, mostly Sam based,
Adafruit’s FEATHER series, supporting a wide range of boards/cpus from 328 to samd51, esp8266, and more
Sparkfun sells the Fio bards.
ChickenLittle:
Thanks to all of you I figured out what battery I am going to use.
Be sure to keep it secret .................
Hi I built a project and it works when plugged into the computer but only sometimes works with a 9 volt battery, it always gives power to the board but the project doesn't always work. Why is that I am starting to think that it needs t be plugged into the computer for a while and then it will work with the battery. But is that possible?
Thanks so much
Use a power supply that can supply the current necessary.
Use AA batteries.
How many AA batteries I am using an Arduino Nano.
Thanks so much.
However you can only use "Vin" for the Arduino itself and a couple of 20 mA LEDs.
If you want to connect other things, you will need a proper 5 V power supply.
Why do I need to use 6 AA batteries instead of one 9v battery. Also do I hook the positive wire from the battery to 5v or Vin.
Thanks so much.
A power supply voltage greater than 5V has to be connected to either the power jack or to Vin.
6 alkaline AA batteries (6*1.5v = 9V) have much more current capacity (1800–2850 mAh) compared to a PP3 9 volt battery (~550mAh).
instead of one 9v battery
Those are for smoke alarms, not Arduinos.
larryd:
6 alkaline AA batteries (6*1.5v = 9V) have much more current capacity (1800–2850 mAh) compared to a PP3 9 volt battery (~550mAh).
Euhm... You should know better than this. Forgot your morning coffee?
Capacity is indeed measured in mAh, and is not necessarily related to the maximum current a battery can deliver (which is measured in mA).
A 9V PP3 battery can deliver 50-100 mA or so, and that not for very long.
AA alkaline batteries can deliver >2000 mA (but it's not a good idea to load them that much). AA rechargeable batteries may be able to deliver 5-10A (also not a good idea to actually do this).
@larryd I just tried it with the positive wire coming from the 9v battery hooked up to VIN and I get the same problem.
Thanks so much
