Sensor power Vs Interface power

Hardware
1

I have a question regarding this sensor:LeddarOne. The datasheet says Power Supply: 5V. Then it also says 3.3V UART interface.

My question is this: Would this work with the Particle Electron natively or I would need to have a separate 5V power source for it?

thanks

Anthony

1 Like
2

Are you powering this just of the LiPo?
If so, you could consider a buck converter to produce the 5V off the 3V3 or Li+ pins
But the power consumption of 1.3W (260mA) would call for powering down the sensor seperately

1 Like
3

Hi @ScruffR

Yes. The solution I have put together is that I have a small solar panel connected to a LiPo battery charger and on to the LiPo battery thats powering the Electron. I was also worried about the power consumption as you have mentioned. Will go with separate power source I think.

thanks

Anthony

4

I didn’t mean you have to switch power source, but you have to keep an eye on the consumption of the Electron AND the sensor.

With a big enough LiPo and solar panel it should be doable, but you’d need to incorporate a way to power down the sensor (and probably buck converter) when you send the Electron to sleep.

5

Oh ok, I hear you.
I have a total of about 6 hours of operation per day. The rest of the time the devices should be resting.