Attaching a Power boost to a Metro Mini

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Withencroft
 
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Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:21 pm

Attaching a Power boost to a Metro Mini

Post by Withencroft »

I am cosplayer and bought guides to use electronics from Kamui, she talks about connecting a Power Boost to a Trinket but Trinkets weren't available and we had to get some Metro Mini's. From what I was reading they seem better than Trinkets but I can't figure out where I should connect the Power boost as the two microcontrollers don't have the same things.

On the Trinket there was a + and - spot on the back of the board but no such thing on the Metro.

I saw I could put a 5V battery directly on the metro but not recharge it through the metro and this prop needs a recharge port as the batteries won't be able to be removed, thus the power boost.

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dastels
 
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Re: Attaching a Power boost to a Metro Mini

Post by dastels »

Is there a reason you need a 5v board? If you use a Feather An M0 basic https://www.adafruit.com/product/2772 would work great with C++/Arduino) you have LiPo charging on board. Or an ItsyBitsy M0 https://www.adafruit.com/product/3727 and a LiPo backpack https://www.adafruit.com/product/2124 which would give you the same capabilities. In each case you just plug the LiPo battery into the board.

You don't actually get 5v batteries. That's the reason for the powerboost: take ~3.7 from a LiPo and convert it to 5v. Some of them have a charger as well.

But assuming you are going to use the MetroMini, the easiest/safest way to attach 5v power is through the USB connector. For that I would suggest using a USB power bank like https://www.adafruit.com/product/4288 or https://www.adafruit.com/product/1566. The powerboosts do run hot which might be undesirable for something wearable.
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