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In anticipation of my Raspberry Pi arriving I have created a LiPo (Lithium Polymer) to Micro USB adapter.

This adapter converts the power from a 2s – 4s LiPo to a regular 5v outputted through a Micro USB to be plugged into a Raspberry Pi board. I will be using this to power the Pi when I use it as a ground station for my Arducopter.

Parts that you need:

1x veriboard/perfboard

1x 7805 Voltage regulator

2x 25v 10uf electrolytic capacitor

1x Micro USB cable

1x Deans Plug (Whatever Plug you use on your LiPo’s)

1x Small cable tie

Tools:

Side clippers

Soldering Iron

Heat source to shrink the heat shrink (I used a hair dryer)

Solder

Hack saw to cut the board down to size

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Sorry, I due to my extreme frustration I forgot to take build log photo’s. This is the best I could do once I came back to my senses :)

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The Process:

My original plan was to print my own PCB and use that but after two failed attempts I gave up and simply build a simpler version on Veriboard.

Failed PCB AttemptsOnce I was thoroughly frustrated from my one hundredth attempt at printing my own PCB failing, I drew up a schematic of a very simply Voltage regulator circuit.

SchematicI then began to build the smallest possible circuit on the veriboard as I could.

Top View:

I drilled two holes on either side of the out coming USB cable and secured it with a cable tie to avoid the cable being ripped out during use.

Bottom View:

The capacitors have been laid flat in order to decrease the size of the board. I had to cut some traces around the Deans as it was shorting to them which would have shorted the 5v output and the input.

Side View:

The board ended up being around the same size as my custom PCB version would have been, the veriboard version does not include a power LED like the PCB.

Just to prove that it works here is it powering a USB to SATA driver board I scavenged from a broken portable HDD.

All that remained was to put some heat shrink over the entire board.

If you have any questions feel free to ask me, it is a very simple build that can prove very useful to anyone wanting to power a USB board anywhere.

This same board can be used to charge phones when camping by replacing the USB plug for the charger’s plug.

Enjoy