BrickPi power / external batteries

#1

Hi,

My son Leo and I just got our BrickPi up and running. We plan to connect it to rechargeable batteries like the ones used in radio-controlled cars (and yes, we realize that it’s up to us to get the polarity right…).

We have some questions:

  1. where can we get more battery clip connectors (or just the right size plug… we need the plug to splice to our batteries)?
  2. any idea if the Lego motors will work @ 7.4 volts? Or does Lego require 12 volts?

(thanks)

– Michael

#2

Hey Michael, great!

1). Are you using the BrickPi Advanced or the BrickPi+?
2). The LEGO motors will definitely work, though they’re going to draw more amperage at the lower voltage. The issue is the Pi: if the power it sees drops below 5V it will restart. You might want to monitor the battery level and if you have some tricky operations keep an eye on it: the Pi2 will drop out with a low voltage.

Good luck! John

#3

We have a BrickPi+. I found some 5mm/2.1mm male connectors with pigtail leads so that’s all set.

We have a successful test over the weekend using our local network, we now need to figure out how to put the Pi on a VPN so we can explore the whole world.

Thanks for the response.

#4

Ok, great. yep, the BrickPi+ has the 5mm barrel jack on it. So a connector with that should fit. Excellent you found some!

A VPN. On my list of stuff to try out. I know there’s openvpn available for that. What are you doing that you want to exit the wifi network and see the world? Sounds like the beginning of a cool project.

#5

the project is a challenge that I created for my son, it’s here: http://brickpi.blogspot.com

#6

Awesome!
John