Better Batteries For Electronic Gadgets
We’re not using 9 Volt batteries to power our projects anymore; the world of hobby electronics has moved on to cheap LiPo batteries for most of our mobile power storage. LiPos aren’t the best solution, evidenced by hundreds of YouTube videos of exploding batteries, and more than a few puffy cells in our junk drawer. The solution? LiFePO4, or lithium iron phosphate cells. They’re a safer chemistry, they have low self discharge, and have more recharge than other chemistry of lithium cells.
LiFePO4 cells aren’t easy to deal with if you’re working with breadboard
, though. Most of that is because there aren’t many breakout boards for these cells. [Patrick] is working on changing that with his LiFePO4werd USB charger.
The concept is simple: use an off-the-shelf part for LiFePO4 batteries – in this case an MCP73123 – and make a board that charges the batteries with a USB port. It’s exactly the same idea as the many USB LiPo chargers out there, only this one uses a better battery chemistry.
[Patrick] is using a 550mAh battery for this project, but there’s no reason why it couldn’t be upgraded to a 18650-sized cell with more than 2000mAh stuffed inside. Add a boost converter to the circuit, and he’ll have the perfect power source for every portable electronics project imaginable.
Sign up for the Gadget Master newsletter
Well, don’t stress, help is at hand. If you can’t come to us, we’ll come to you!
You can now sign up for the Gadget Master newsletter to ensure you receive the latest and greatest Gadget Master news, hot and fresh, straight into your inbox! And check out the new look design, which is mobile friendly!
All the posts about homemade electronic gadgets, the latest dev boards, and the more interesting consumer devices. We’re talking Arduino and Raspberry Pi and more…
Simply select ‘My Account’ at the top right of the site.
Signing up only takes a second and then you can sit back and relax as we do the rest.
Go on, sign up – it will be the best decision you’ve ever made! »
9 of the Best Fake Gadgets
It’s the one time of the year that fake news can be a good thing. April Fool’s fell on a weekend this year, so companies had to get their joke news releases out a bit early. We waited to see what everyone would come up with and found the best of the bunch. While some are completely outlandish there are a few just plausible enough that we could see companies and consumers actually going for it.
Here are this year’s best fake gadgets. Let us know your favorites in the comments!
1. Lyft Mono – the Ride-Hailing Wearable
Remember the good ol’ days when you could hitch a ride just by sticking out your thumb? Popular ride-sharing company, Lyft, wants to make hailing a rideshare (both manned and autonomous) just that easy again with the Mono. The Mono is a hand-worn device that straps around your wrist and thumb and uses accelerometers and gyroscope sensors to track whenever you make the signature hitchhiker’s thumb gesture. From there the device will automatically call the nearest available Lyft ride to your location.
It also comes in Lyft’s signature magenta coloring.
2. Honda Car Horn Emojis
Sometimes a simple horn honk isn’t enough to really communicate how you feel while driving. That’s why Honda is proposing an innovative new vehicle-to-vehicle communication system based on the most tried and true method of communicating emotion digitally – the emoji.
Honda’s new emoji-enabled horn features a variety of different emoji buttons (happy, sad, angry, ect.) and will produce a distinctive honk based on which emoji you select. Honda says the new honks were created with data compiled by social scientists and audiologists to create sounds that best epxress human emotions. “Research showed that anger is the number one reason the driver uses a standard horn. Honda’s goal was to take horn expression to the next level by expanding the emotional spectrum into other audio-based gestures such as happiness, love and empathy,” a statement from the company said.