Other Parts Discussed in Post: BQ24250

How many times have you been working on an MSP430™ microcontroller (MCU) project when your AC wall adapter cord gets in your way or your last 9-volt battery runs dry and you have to run to the store to keep working? It’s unfortunately a common nuisance, which wastes your money and patience on keeping your wires managed or your battery cabinet stocked.

This is where the new Fuel Tank MKII BoosterPack™ plug-in module comes in handy (BOOSTXL-BATPAKMKII). The kit features a rechargeable 3.7V 1200mAh lithium polymer battery with all new TI battery management IC’s and power convertors on board. This includes the bq27441 battery fuel gauge IC with TI’s Impedance Track™ technology. Also included are a charging indicator LED and an easy-to-use two-position switch for connecting/disconnecting the battery to your TI LaunchPad™ development kit.

 

The Fuel Tank MKII BoosterPack is an easy fix for these problems. Since it complies with the TI BoosterPack module standard, making your project mobile is as easy as adding the Fuel Tank module to your LaunchPad kit. Using two fixed buck-boost convertors, the MKII offers both a 3.3V (1200mA max) and 5V (800mA max) rail for added project flexibility.

Developers can eliminate cables by leveraging the Fuel Tank MKII BoosterPack module, making wireless application prototyping easier. Devices such as wearables, music players, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and other portable electronics will be much easier to prototype.

Using Impedance Track™ technology, the bq27441 IC also lets you access lots of battery management features, allowing you to track your power usage and battery status. In fact, all of these items can be monitored:

  • Design capacity (mAh)
  • Remaining capacity (mAh)
  • Battery temperature (C)
  • Battery voltage (mV)
  • Average current (mA)

Here’s a screen capture from the BoosterPack module sample code showing the results after interrogating the Fuel Gauge IC.

The high efficiency bq24250 Li-ion battery charger IC on the BoosterPack kit charges the battery at 4.36V and 1 Amp by default. Note that the battery is charged when connecting the USB port on the Fuel Tank MKII BoosterPack module directly to a USB power source.

The Fuel Tank MKII BoosterPack module comes with easy-to-use demo software that shows how to utilize the I2C serial connection to query the kit for the battery’s status. To see how to get the demo up and running quickly, take a look at the User’s Guide.

Now is the perfect time to breathe new life into your old projects or add freedom to your future project’s feature list. The Fuel Tank MKII is a great addition to projects using the following LaunchPad development kits:

 Order the Fuel Tank MKII BoosterPack™ module today!

Additional resources:

  • Learn more about the bq27441 in this blog.

 

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