Summary of SOLAR INTEGRATED ULP FEATHER NEEDS NO BATTERIES
The article describes a light-powered, ultra-low-power Feather MCU board by Jake Wachlin that uses an ATSAML21 MCU and integrated solar cells to enable long battery-free operation for maker and IoT projects. It highlights the board's use of two KXOB25 monocrystalline solar cells as primary power and notes the ATSAML21 specs: Cortex-M0+ at 48 MHz, 256 kB flash, and 32 kB RAM.
Parts used in the Light-powered Ultra-Low Power Feather MCU board:
- ATSAML21 MCU (Cortex-M0+, 48 MHz, 256 kB Flash, 32 kB RAM)
- Two KXOB25 monocrystalline solar cells (4.46V / 5.5 mA each)
Long battery-life and Low power consumption are usually top on the list of requirements for most hardware devices these days, as the weariness of having to constantly charge a device continues to have significant effect on customers’ choice.
Asides from consumer applications, another reason fueling this demand is the growth in the deployment of IoT devices, most of which are designed for “deploy and forget” applications where changing batteries is impractical.
Several approaches to this currently include wireless charging, longer-lasting but more expensive batteries, and energy harvesting. Energy harvesting is expected to play a big role in our future but most of the solutions at the moment still require battery backup and are not able to provide power in a reliable manner. Leading the way into that future, at least for makers, Jake Wachlin recently shared a project he has been working on; the light-powered, Ultra-Low Power, Feather MCU board.
The board which runs the ATSAML21 MCU, a low power variant of the SAM D21 used in the Adafruit feather Mo board, comes with two KXOB25 monocrystalline solar cells that provide 4.46V/5.5mA and serve as the primary source of power to the board. The ATSAML21 is based on the Cortex mo+ running at 48MHz with 256kB Flash, and 32kB RAM.
Read more: SOLAR INTEGRATED ULP FEATHER NEEDS NO BATTERIES
- What is the primary power source for the Feather MCU board?
The primary power source is two KXOB25 monocrystalline solar cells providing 4.46V/5.5mA. - Which MCU does the board use?
The board uses the ATSAML21 MCU. - What core and clock speed does the ATSAML21 run at?
The ATSAML21 is based on the Cortex-M0+ core running at 48 MHz. - How much flash and RAM does the ATSAML21 provide on the board?
It provides 256 kB of Flash and 32 kB of RAM. - Are batteries required for the board to operate?
The board is designed to be light-powered and aims to operate without batteries using its solar cells as primary power. - Why is energy harvesting important for IoT devices according to the article?
Energy harvesting helps enable deploy-and-forget IoT applications where changing batteries is impractical. - Do current energy harvesting solutions always eliminate the need for batteries?
No, most current energy harvesting solutions still require battery backup and are not always reliably power-providing.
