Piggy Back 5V to power external component

Submitted by Jesus805 on Wed, 12/14/2016 - 06:48

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Hi Guys, First time poster!

I have an external sensor that needs 5V that consumes 135 mA. Unfortunately the diddyborg takes up all available 5V rail connectors. Is it possible to piggyback off one of the 5V rails to power my sensor? Are there any precautions I must take? I'm a complete newbie at robotics so I'd appreciate any simplified explanations.

Thank you!!

piborg's picture

piborg

Wed, 12/14/2016 - 11:12

Yes, you should be able to share the 5V rail between the Raspberry Pi and your sensor.

As long as all of the connections are to the correct pins / rails all you need to be careful of is how much power is in use.
The BattBorg has an upper limit of 1.5 A (1500 mA).
This should not be a problem with that sensor , the DiddyBorg will probably take about 1 A (1000 mA), leaving plenty for some sensors / USB dongles to use.

If you have some 1-pin cables the easiest way to get to the 5V rail would be to connect only one of the two 5V connections between the PicoBorg Reverse and the Raspberry Pi and leave the other disconnected.
This will mean there is a spare 5V pin on the PicoBorg Reverse, and one on the Raspberry Pi.
You should be able to use either of these pins to connect to your sensor.

The 2 and 4 connections in this diagram are the ones which connect 5V between the PicoBorg Reverse and the Raspberry Pi.

Jesus805

Wed, 12/14/2016 - 20:12

Sweet!! Thank you so much for the speedy reply!

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