DIY Lithium Battery Charger Shield for Arduino

In this project, we are building a programmable single/multi cell lithium battery charger shield for Arduino. The shield provides LCD and button interface which let the user set the battery cut-off voltage from 2V to 10V and charge current from 50mA to 1.1A. The charger also provides the ability to monitor the battery status before and during charge.

The charger is based on LT1510 Constant Current/Constant Voltage Battery charger IC and controlled by Arduino UNO. The display on the shield is Nokia 5110 LCD which is very simple to use and still available on the market. There are two different battery connectors available on the shield, a two contact screw terminal block and a right angle 2mm JST-PH connector.

Circuit Design

The schematic of the project is drawn in SoloCapture, the schematic editor of SoloPCB tools. SoloCapture makes the schematic drawing process very easy and fast. You can download SoloPCB tools at Fabstream.com for FREE.

You can download the SoloPCB design files of the project by using the link below.

Please check out this video to see how to import the project libraries, open and synchronize the schematic and PCB files.

The lithium battery charger circuit is designed as an Arduino Shield. But the battery charger IC on the board can also work without MCU control. R3 and R4 sets the charge cut-off voltage, R2 ,R24 and C5 adjusts the charge current limit. With those passive component configurations, LT1510 can charge the battery and know when to stop. But we want to build a user programmable charger. So we had to take control of these functions. Anyway, when no code is present on Arduino, the charger has default cut-off voltage of 4.2V and maximum charge current of 1.1A.

Pulling VC pin of LT1510 to ground stops charging immediately. The pin 5 of Arduino assigned to drive Q2 Mosfet to stop charging when required. The battery voltage is divided by ten over R7 and R8 resistors and read by the A1 analog input. By using these two features, we can read the battery voltage and stop charging when the battery reaches a pre-determined voltage level.

In LT1510 datasheet, in addition to fixed resistor configuration, controlling the charge current by PWM method is also explained. Pin 6 of Arduino has PWM function and it is used for this purpose. Adjusting the PWM duty cycle easily adjusts the charge current. The current flowing to the battery is sensed by ACS712-5A Hall Effect current sensor IC and the sensor output is read by A0 analog input of Arduino. ACS712-5A outputs 0.185mV per 1A in addition to 2.5V. For example when the battery draws 1A, the sensor outputs 2.685V. To read the current more accurately, the internal voltage reference 1.1V is used so 10 bit ADC reading will fit between 0V and 1.1V at 1024 step resolution.

 

For more detail: DIY Lithium Battery Charger Shield for Arduino


About The Author

Ibrar Ayyub

I am an experienced technical writer holding a Master's degree in computer science from BZU Multan, Pakistan University. With a background spanning various industries, particularly in home automation and engineering, I have honed my skills in crafting clear and concise content. Proficient in leveraging infographics and diagrams, I strive to simplify complex concepts for readers. My strength lies in thorough research and presenting information in a structured and logical format.

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