Colby

=Title=

Controlling Energy From Batteries
=Introduction= I have been wondering a long time if i would be able to use the AA batteries that I have all around the house, and use them to charge my ipod, phone, or gps when i'm away from a home outlet. Well, these devices I want to charge are powered by USB ports, which on average carry 5 volts to charge devices. Now we should all know by now that a single AA battery is only able to carry a 1.5 volt current, so two AA's would be 3 volts. So you cant simply take your Pod and run some wires from a couple of batteries, it just wouldn't work. But there are a couple of cheap solutions to do just what I have always wanted. These parts areinexpensive and can be put together by anyone who can follow instructions and owns a soldering iron.

=Hypothesis=

If you can run devices on batteries, can you do it yourself without spending a lot of money?
=Materials and Methods=


 * 60/40 tin-lead[[image:Science_fair_2010-2.JPG width="299" height="224" align="right"]]
 * Soldering iron
 * LT1302CN8-5
 * 8-pin socket
 * Power supply capacitor
 * Bypass capacitor
 * 100K 1/4W 5% resistor
 * Schottky Diode
 * 10-22uH power inductor
 * USB type A female jack
 * 2 x AA battery holder
 * Circuit board

=Step By Step= =Observations=
 * 1) I ordered all the parts needed offline, and bought a tin of Altoids peppermint chewing gum
 * 2) When the parts arrived i got out my soldering iron and solder, a wet sponge, my multimeter, and the instructions displayed on my laptop.
 * 3) I laid out the parts to make sure they were in good condition and I had everything I needed to get started
 * 4) I began to solder the parts into the PCB, making sure they were tight against the bored and made good contact with the bored as I soldered. (some of the parts took a couple of attempts to correctly solder to the board, as i wanted to make sure i did not get any cold joints)
 * 5) When I finished soldering all of the components to the PCB, i put two AA batteries in and used my multimeter to insure i had soldered correctly and that it was producing exactly 5 volts, which it was.
 * 6) I got some scissors and cut out a small slot in the side of the Altoids tin, this slot would be where the usb port would stick out of. I had ordered some sticky padding for both the battery holder and PCB.
 * 7) I placed them in the Altoids tin and closed the lid, project was finished

1/24/10: While working at home with a hand crank powered flashlight, i noticed that it uses an electric motor to create current, which goes through a motherboard to a 3.6v Ni-cd battery. this battery is used to power 3 LED lights. I'm now trying to modify this light to run off AA batteries instead of a motor. My goal is to be able to charge an Ipod with batteries

=Results=

After succesfuly putting all of the parts together and testing the input and output voltage with my multimeter, I can confirm it is working. I am able to charge my iPod nano, iPod touch, Tomtom 340xl-s, sansa music player, and several phones, though most motorola ones don't charge.

=Discussion and Conclusions=

=Background research=

=References= • Brain, Marshall. "HowStuffWorks "How Capacitors Work"." //Howstuffworks "Electronics"//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. .


 * (dannyg@dannyg.com), Danny Goodman. "Resistors." //Car Alarm, Car Stereo, Mobile Video, and Cruise Control Info for Installers//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. .


 * "Transistors." //Welcome to the Electronics Club//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. .


 * "Resistor Color Codes : COLOR CODES." //All About Circuits : Free Electric Circuits Textbooks//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. .