RTC wake up for GoPiGo3? GoPiGo3 shutdown?

GoPiGo
1

Questions about the GoPiGo3 power circuit:

  1. I don’t see any kind of power_down() API call. Does the GoPiGo3 shut off power after executing “sudo shutdown -h now”?

  2. Can the GoPiGo3 remain running (low power idle) while connected to the recharger, (assuming the Dexter Ind. 9.6v pack plus recharger, and addition of a 2nd power connector) ?

  3. Is there a way to electronically wake up the GoPiGo3 with an RTC (real time clock)?

2

The use case for a real time clock scheduled power-on, and a software controlled power off.

  1. Robot notices battery level is getting low,

  2. navigates onto/into charging contacts (exitsting Tenergy peaking 1A/2A selectable charger)

  3. Robot schedules wakeup based on estimated full-charge time

  4. Robot shuts down processor and stops drawing from batteries so the Tenergy peaking charger does not falsely detect charged state (as happens with current bot, if processor stays running)

  5. Robot awakes per schedule, moves off charger contacts and resumes contiguous “life”

( Via crontab my bot starts lifelog.py at boot which maintains a file life.log so it can know a little about its “life time.” Everyboty [sic] is unique! )

4

  1. There isn’t a power_down() API call for the RPi to tell the GPG3 to turn off power. It will be considered.

  2. When recharging the battery pack, it should be unplugged from the GPG3. You can meanwhile power the GPG3 + RPi with 5v through the RPi micro-USB connector. When running on 5v USB power, everything except the motors should work, but the GPG3 won’t be able to ‘kill’ the power, since it’s connected directly to the RPi.

  3. With existing hardware, there is no way to trigger power on with a RTC. If you have some soldering and advanced electronics skills, theoretically you could use an external circuit to simulate pressing the power button. Perhaps an Arduino with RTC and a small relay or a couple transistors could be used to power on at a specified time.

1 Like
5

Thanks for the info.

I’m handy with a soldering iron, but my “double E” skills are really weak. If I can’t buy it, or program it, my robots will have to continue waiting for eternal life.

Cheers,

Alan