Powering Arduino With a Battery

https://www.instructables.com/id/Powering-Arduino-with-a-Battery/

Make your Arduino projects portable by using a battery for power. From the Uno and Mega
documentation pages:

"The board can operate on an external supply of 6 to 20 volts. If supplied with less than 7V,
however, the 5V pin may supply less than five volts and the board may be unstable. If using
more than 12V, the voltage regulator may overheat and damage the board. The recommended
range is 7 to 12 volts."

I've found that using 9V works well. You can simply connect the + end of your battery to
Arduino Vin and the - end to Arduino ground (fig 1). You should see the green light on the
Arduino turn on to indicate that it is powered.

It's also a good idea to attach a toggle switch in series with this battery so that you can turn
your Arduino off and on. As shown in the images above, solder a toggle switch to the red
lead from the 9V battery connector. Connect the black lead from the battery connector to one
of the Arduino's ground pins, and connect the lead from the toggle switch to Arduino's Vin
pin. Snap a battery to the connector. Now your Arduino will turn on when the switch is
closed and turn off when it is open (figs 5 and 6).

Parts List:

(1x) Arduino Uno

(1x) 9V Battery

(1x) 9V Battery snap connector

(1x) toggle switch (this one is a little different that that pictured, but it will work the same)

Alternatively, you can find these 9V snap connectors with the same n-tye barrel plug as the
Arduino and plug into the barrel socket on the Arduino directly:

(1x) 9V battery snap connector to barrel plug

Four ways to power up the Arduino Uno
https://www.technobyte.org/2016/07/power-up-the-arduino-uno/

September 21, 2017

| Umair Hussaini

Arduino

The Arduino Uno has undergone many revisions, and hence the power supply circuit has
evolved to an almost foolproof design. In this project, we will learn about the four different
ways in which we can power up the Arduino Uno. While making projects, it is necessary to
know the following techniques, since there are instances when flexibility with regards to the
power supply is required.

Things required to power up the Arduino Uno

We are going to need the following apparatus to learn how to switch on the Arduino Uno.

• An Arduino Uno board (Rev 3)

• Standard A-B USB cable
• AC to DC Adapter (7-12V)
• Batteries (9V) with a battery connector
• Jumper wires (Female to Male)

Images (Things required)

Standard A-B USB cable

9V adapter

9V Battery with connector and female to male jumpers

What is the procedure to power up the Arduino Uno?
Modern Arduino Uno boards allow the board to have more than one source of power to be
connected simultaneously. An intelligent switching circuitry ensures that the highest
available voltage is selected and sent to the onboard voltage regulator and eventually powers
up the board.

We can power up the Arduino using power supplied from the computer via a USB cable
and/or by using external power sources.

1. Using USB cable

An Arduino Uno powered up using a USB cable

The USB port of the Arduino Uno can be connected to a desktop/laptop. If the connection is
enumerated, i.e. the computer recognizes the device, the current supplied to the board is
500mA at 5V. If the connection is not enumerated, 100mA is supplied at 5V.

USB Enumeration
It is the process by which the host computer identifies a device to load the appropriate driver
and learns the capabilities of the device
2. Using an AC to DC adapter plugged into the barrel connector

The barrel connector is 2.1mm in diameter. The center pin is positive, and the outer sleeve is
grounded.

Arduino Uno powered up using 9V AC-DC adapter

The barrel connector can be supplied an input of 7-12V. This is regulated to 5V by the
onboard voltage regulator, and the board is powered on.
3. Using 5V input

A voltage regulator can be used to supply fixed 5V input to power up the Arduino

It is possible to power up the Arduino using the 5V and GND pins, provided that the input
given is steady and regulated 5V. The 5V pin bypasses the voltage regulator and all the safety
measures present on the Arduino Uno, so if the input exceeds 5V (5.5 is the maximum upper
limit), the board can be damaged. It is generally advised to avoid powering up the Arduino
Uno using this method.
4. Using batteries greater than 5V

Connection layout to supply power to the board using a 9V battery

Connect a 9V battery with the positive terminal connected to the Vin pin and the negative
terminal connected to the GND pin. The Vin port allows an input between 7 and 12 Volts, but
we recommend to use a 9V battery. Depending on your application you can input 12V too but
make sure the current values stay around 500mA.

Precautions to be undertaken before switching on the

Arduino Uno
• If the barrel connector and an AC-DC adapter are being used to power up the
Arduino, make sure that the output of the adapter is between 7-12V. Although the
rated input can exceed to as much as 20V, it is safe to stay within the recommended
range to protect the voltage regulator from excessive heating. Also, see to it that the
GND and Vin pins are not shorted.
• But if you are using the 5V and GND pins to power up the Arduino, it is imperative
that the 5V input is stable and steady.
• If the Vin/5V and GND pins are being used to power up the Arduino, double check
the polarity because if the GND and 5V/Vin pins are mixed up, it can potentially
damage the Arduino board.
Troubleshoot
If the Arduino Uno fails to be recognized by the host computer, it’s possible that it won’t
draw enough current. To fix this, try to use a USB 2.0 port if you were using a USB 3.0 port.
In addition to that, you can also try changing the USB cable. However, if none of these work,
you can manually install the Arduino Uno.