Hello!
I am designing a compact GPS logger as a personal project and learning experience. My experience is quite limited, this being only the second project that I take. The first one was an adaptive cruise control system mounted on a toy car that featured an Atmega16 uC, Sharp IR distance sensor and a L298 motor controller.
I bought a Skylab GPS module as it fitted perfectly in my budget and seemed like a good enough choice for a beginner.
Main objectives when building this are:
1) High autonomy
2) (very) Compact design
3) The ability to charge the battery when connected to the PC by USB.
Considering that this is a considerable larger project than the first one, I devised a four stage plan:
1) Get data from the GPS module and display it on a LCD screen
2) Build a working prototype that would integrate the microSD socket, parse the data from the GPS and write it to the SD card.
3) Add an USB connector that would allow the user to get data from the SD card without removing it from the device.
4) If possible, reduce the size of the project to a minimum and find a decent looking enclosure.
The first challenge would be figuring out the best way to power the device. I basically have 2 options:
1) Hook a Li-Ion battery (like this one for example) with a USB charging circuit (similar to this one ) .
Main advantage would be the ability to charge the battery directly with the device. The problem comes from the additional chips needed for the charging circuit and the battery dimensions itself, as I would like the final result to be as compact as possible.
2) Use a 1.5V battery (AA or AAA) with >1000mAh and use a step-up regulator to get 3.3V to power the system.
Main disadvantage is the inability to charge the battery in the device and the power that is lost when going from 1.5V to 3.3V . My guess is that if the battery has 1.000 mAh at 1.5V it would have ~400 mAh at 3.3V which is not much.
I am interested in opinions, if I am missing something in the pros/cons above or if there are any other powering options for a compact device.
Thank you for any advice, suggestions or comments!
Alex
I am designing a compact GPS logger as a personal project and learning experience. My experience is quite limited, this being only the second project that I take. The first one was an adaptive cruise control system mounted on a toy car that featured an Atmega16 uC, Sharp IR distance sensor and a L298 motor controller.
I bought a Skylab GPS module as it fitted perfectly in my budget and seemed like a good enough choice for a beginner.
Main objectives when building this are:
1) High autonomy
2) (very) Compact design
3) The ability to charge the battery when connected to the PC by USB.
Considering that this is a considerable larger project than the first one, I devised a four stage plan:
1) Get data from the GPS module and display it on a LCD screen
2) Build a working prototype that would integrate the microSD socket, parse the data from the GPS and write it to the SD card.
3) Add an USB connector that would allow the user to get data from the SD card without removing it from the device.
4) If possible, reduce the size of the project to a minimum and find a decent looking enclosure.
The first challenge would be figuring out the best way to power the device. I basically have 2 options:
1) Hook a Li-Ion battery (like this one for example) with a USB charging circuit (similar to this one ) .
Main advantage would be the ability to charge the battery directly with the device. The problem comes from the additional chips needed for the charging circuit and the battery dimensions itself, as I would like the final result to be as compact as possible.
2) Use a 1.5V battery (AA or AAA) with >1000mAh and use a step-up regulator to get 3.3V to power the system.
Main disadvantage is the inability to charge the battery in the device and the power that is lost when going from 1.5V to 3.3V . My guess is that if the battery has 1.000 mAh at 1.5V it would have ~400 mAh at 3.3V which is not much.
I am interested in opinions, if I am missing something in the pros/cons above or if there are any other powering options for a compact device.
Thank you for any advice, suggestions or comments!
Alex
