{"id":254,"date":"2010-11-20T21:13:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-20T21:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/louisc.co.uk\/FYP\/?p=254"},"modified":"2016-11-05T11:17:47","modified_gmt":"2016-11-05T11:17:47","slug":"problem-issue-with-arduino-board-power-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/louisc.co.uk\/?p=254","title":{"rendered":"Problem – Issue with Arduino board power supply"},"content":{"rendered":"

Background<\/h1>\n

After getting the wireless modules working at close proximity it was time to move them away to test range. At the moment prototyping is being completed using two of these:<\/p>\n

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(Reference: http:\/\/www.emartee.com\/product\/41797\/Arduino-Duemilanove-2009-ATmega328)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Arduino Duemilanove is a prototype board which provides the microcontroller everything it needs to be both run and programmed. This makes prototyping with these boards very easy.<\/p>\n

As can be seen in the photo above the board can accept both a USB input and a DC jack. Both of these ports will power the device but the DC jack should be used where a higher power draw is required or when there is no computer available.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0specified input volatges for the board’s DC jack are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Input Voltage (recommended)<\/td>\n7-12V<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Input Voltage (limits)<\/td>\n6-20V<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The two boards were set up with a simple test program to reply to\u00a0each-other on the press of a keyboard key. This was working successfully.<\/p>\n

The Problem<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

Using a 12v AC adapter which had already been used on the initially built prototype (Board A), the second of the prototypes (Board B) was moved \u00a0some distance away in order to test range. It was plugged in and the power light indicated it was on. Upon initially failing to communicate from (Board A) the distance was shortened. Despite moving to within a meter the two modules were still not communicating.<\/p>\n

Eventually after some testing it appeared that the voltage regulation circuitry had failed and provided the full 12v of the power supply across the 5v rail. This had in turn damaged both the\u00a0micro controller and the wireless radio module.<\/p>\n

The development board tested and still working\u00a0OK after the microcontroller was swapped out with Board A.<\/p>\n

To Do<\/h1>\n