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Author: feiticeir0
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[Pool Water Monitoring] #16 deep sleep - low power mode

feiticeir0

Pool Water monitoring logo

Hi all ! Hope everyone is safe !

One of the main goals of this project is to be able to monitor a remote location - hence the LoRa communication with a great range.

In that remote location, power may not always be available, or available at all. The Arduino MKR 1300 WAN can be powered by 2xAA batteries - they are cheap and can last .

Nonetheless, they will reach a state where they no longer can power the Arduino. If we can save the battery power, the more they can last.

In my project, I don't need to constantly measure the environmental parameters. During those times that I don't need to do nothing, why not put the Arduino to sleep - saving those juices for when they are necessary.

Enter the Lower Power Arduino Library. You can also see the Github pages of the library.

This library can save power by putting the Arduino to sleep (or in low power mode), by using the low power features of the SAMD21 MCU.

Install the library

You can install the library in the usual way.

Just search for it in the library manager.

Arduino Library manager

It also needs the RTCZero library. Just install both.

RTCZero library

And, you can see the examples.

For my project I'm going to use the TimedWakeup example.

This will put the Arduino to sleep for a period of time, waking it after. Just see the examples and one will suit your needs .

Now you can save that precious juice !

Have a nice weekend.

Anonymous
  • in reply to beacon_dave

    My intention is not to have another arduino. I need to make it work with the MKR 1300 WAN.  But thank you for the reply.

    I've read the forum . I've read them all ! :)

    I did try the INPUT_PULLUP and usb detach.  It did help a bit, but nothing relevant.

  • in reply to feiticeir0

    If you swap the MKR WAN 1300 for a MKR WAN 1310, it looks like you can get improved power consumption (down to 104µA in deep sleep). 

    You have to take some additional steps however like disconnecting the on-board power regulator.

    How can I achieve the 104µA power consumption?
    https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-can-i-achieve-the-104-a-power-consumption/619331

  • in reply to DAB

    Hi ! That's a nice question and, by now, I can't really answer it, but I will try in a near future.

    Every documentation I read about this, they say that it really makes the arduino consume less power.  I still have to test it myself, in real conditions.

    I just know that, I've left the Arduino working for 3 days with just 2xAA batteries - unknowingly- and already lost 50% of the batteries capacity.

    When the time comes, I'll post here some findings.

    Best regards

  • Are you going to provide some data showing your power consumption before and after setting up the sleep modes?

    I would have gone for a PSOC or MSP430 to get good control of power consumption and timing.

    The Arduino is not known for being easy to control time or power consumption.