Appendix B: Battery and Power Routing Options

DO NOT EXCEED 7.5V INPUT!!! You will destroy the 5V regulator.

Battery Placement

The batteries can be secured to the top of the Logic Board, or the bottom of the LED Matrix board. Be sure to avoid interference with the capacitor on the right edge of the Logic Board.

Alkaline Cells

You can use pretty much any alkaline "AAA" battery in the included pack. Just don't exceed 7.5V. You can also use the disposable primary Lithium cells. The open circuit voltage is dropped enough through the reverse polarity protection circuit and the system load so as to be safe. You could even go with a 3X "AA" battery pack and still squeeze that in between the Logic and LED Matrix boards.

Rechargeables

NiCd and NiMh are acceptable options. You will have to remove them to charge them.

LiPo

USE ONLY 1S LIPOs AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE COMPATIBLE WITH THE CHARGER YOU CHOOSE.

These two LiPo charge managers are directly compatible with the Core 64 Logic or Core Boards:

Adafruit Micro-Lipo Charger for LiPo/LiIon Batt w/MicroUSB Jackadafruit

Adafruit Micro-Lipo Charger for LiPoly Batt with USB Type C Jackadafruit

And this battery is about as big as you'll want to squeeze in. You can choose a smaller one if you want.

Lithium Ion Polymer Battery - 3.7v 2500mAhadafruit

I recommend the Adafruit Micro LiPo charger with the USB Type C port (#4410) and the 2500mAh Lipo (#328). This gives you the option to charge the board with either a USB C or Micro USB connection (through the Teensy board).

You do not have to include the charge manager, but it is convenient for plugging in a 1S LiPo and charging it safely.

Power Routing Options

The default configuration for the power switch on the left edge is to provide power to the system from either the battery (the UP position for the switch) or from a USB cable connected to the Teensy (the DOWN position for the switch).