Has anyone found a USB battery pack that matches the new rule? We’d like to get one to power our OrangePi, but can’t seem to find one.
I presume you mean a battery pack that is at all of the limits of the rule. So no I haven’t found any. I know of good batteries at 20 W and 45 W for a port at 20Ahr (Mophie). Found one at 25 W and 10Ahr https://www.samsung.com/levant/mobile-accessories/25w-battery-pack-10000-eb-p3300xjegww/
I know the Mophie we have holds 5 v well; none of the others we tried held 5 v. We haven’t tried the Samsung.
Edit: the miracle of targeted ads by Google
INIU 20000mAh Portable Charger, LED Display, 22.5W Fast Charging Power Bank for iPhone & iPad, Black - Walmart.com
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Samsung-Battery-Pack-EB-P5300-Power-bank-20000-mAh-25-Watt-3-A-PD-3-0-QC-2-0-AFC-SFC-2-output-connectors-USB-USB-C-cable-USB-C-dark-gray/418737391
if you can interpret the 25 W 3A
Yes, I mean one at the limits. We are using an OrangePi and according to the website, we would need 5v at 4 amps. Unless I am thinking wrong, a 25 watt port would be 5 amps at 5 volts, but not sure. Do you have a link to the Mophie?
I edited my post above for a couple of links that popped up. This has the current Mophie offerings Power - Power Banks - Page 1 - ZAGG
Unfortunately, both Walmart batteries appear to be illegal in frc.
The rule R602 says 5V, 5A max per port. Generally, any battery that advertises Qualcomm Quick Charge (QC) or USB Power Delivery (PD, USBPD) will allow the voltage to go above 5V (usually to 9 at the very least).
If I needed one I’d buy that Walmart Samsung 20000 mAh 25 W 3A and stress test it to see what its true voltage and current capacity is.
https://a.co/d/c5jZKJp
appears to be legal. It’s user manual states 5V 3A output if that’s enough for you. And I didn’t see mentions of PD or QC.
I wonder how it will be policed at competitions. I know most batteries in general are above their stated voltages, so I wonder if this would be an acceptable variance.
As an RI unless directed otherwise, I would use the nominal rating of the device. The maybe definitive thing to do is a well worded question to Q&A. But they sometimes do knee jerk answers.
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I can’t find better details on the Samsung site. An even worse case scenario is the 25 W is only at the (unexpected, I never knew) 9 V. Maybe the current limit is about 3 A even at the nominal 5 V.
Maybe the same for those advertised at 22.5 W. They are 2.5 A at the 9 V and likely 2.5 A also at the 5 V?
I do not believe this rule makes sense and it is out of alignment with the USB specifications. They should make USB 3.0 PD legal, keep the same battery pack limits, and call it done.
Well… let me go edit that.
EDIT: There… now no one will ever know I can’t read.
Page 91 of 149 (initial version). I usually fall asleep before then, too.
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No, this is very exciting. Thank you for pointing it out.
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I think this rule is specifically targeted at the Raspberry Pi 5, which uses 5V at 5A… By requesting it from a compatible USB-PD power supply. (I believe the official one can also output 9 volts. If someone were to make a battery pack designed for the Pi 5 by matching the specifications of the official power supply, it would be illegal for use in FRC.)
So yeah, they should just allow full PD on robots rather than going out of their way to allow a very specific product that probably doesn’t exist, and maybe shouldn’t if it does.
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The extra voltage won’t help you either. The Raspberry Pi only wants 5V.
Right, but the rules state the max output of the battery port, not the max input of the device. PD is becoming pretty common as QC falls off. You have to actively look for a battery bad enough to not have PD.
Any updates?
We bought these, not realizing they are able to output 9v as well.
Has anyone found a legal usb battery pack that max outputs 5v at 5a to fit the rule?
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They said to see Team Update 12, but there isn’t anything in Team Update 12 about batteries.