Started a new solar test yesterday. The last 8 did not work out as planned. The best result was three nights. The main problem I had is the Pimoroni Zero Lipo Shim did not restart the Pi after power was restored. The solution is to place an Arduino to monitor daylight and shut down the Raspberry Pi Zero W for the night, then in the morning, start the Pi back up.
Last night it worked as planned, I have high hopes for this method.
The current test includes:
- Raspberry Pi Zero W
- Arduino Mini Pro
- Light Sensor
- (4) 18650 batteries
- (3) solar panels 2.5w / 5v each
- (3) Lipo chargers
- (4) Shockey diodes
- Pimoroni Zero Lipo Shim
- Wire
If all goes to plan, I will do a write-up with code and wiring diagrams this weekend.
This is one of the photos sent to mission control every 30 min. It’s taken with the Raspberry Pi 8mp camera. Note: I have not focused the camera yet. I want to get it on the rover before messing with the lens.
The white tape over the batteries is to keep the temperature down from the sun. There are a couple of holes as well to allow the heat to escape. 106 today in Vegas, and every worked.
Hopefully, this works, then I can get back to designing the rover and the navigation system.
New things to think about:
- How to program the Arduino remotely from the Raspberry Pi with over-the-air updates. The issue is I need to keep the Arduino power and the Pi’s power isolated.