Monthly Archives: September 2015

slaughtering external USB batteries to keep robots alive

current discussions are revolving around when and not whether ai will supercede us human beings. i learned the following lesson: we need to slaughter for them first! it’s about batteries, power!

after my last research on different options to power the raspberry pi, i wanted to invest some time into the external usb batteries that power our phones when we’re out and about.

it’s actually hard to find people who have invested time to decompose such devices but i actually think, it’s worthwhile because you learn a lot. so in this case i invested some time into two batteries to learn how easy / complicated it is to get to the innards: a little 2600mAh battery and a 4000mAh battery both i received as gifts on conventions (thanks techniker krankenkasse and telefonica germany!)

i haven’t documented the blood, sweat and tears process when applying both smart and raw power to the devices, but the 2600mAh by the techniker krankenkasse seems to be a first generation of the anker device i found on amazon.  the second one was really a b*tch. here is the end result:

usb battery power supplies slaughtered

one the left is what i really love mechanically, you just unscrew the cap and get the innards out. SO NICE! however, Continue reading