I've been making/selling various crafts online, but this is my first foray into Arduino-based projects:
This little Arduino-powered creation does the following:
-Acts as a clock (albeit a difficult one to read with only a single LED for hour and minute)
-Connects to the Internet (using a WiFi shield) and gathers location data
-Uses various APIs (e.g. Google, Twitter, etc.) to grabs the top 5 trending items on the Internet
-Displays the top 5 items on the LED screen in the center of the clock
-Contains a sliding potentiometer that allows the user to narrow the scope of the trend search from global to local (right-to-left)
-Is powered by an internal 3.7V 6,600mAh LiPoly cell (which feeds power to an Arduino Mega 2560 through a 5V DC Boost circuit)
-The back of the unit is a 6V 1.5W solar panel, which connects to a LiPoly charging circuit inside the box (the unit sits in my window which faces the sun)
-Also has a backup power cord running out the back in case the battery runs dry
I'm still climbing the learning curve with electronics and microcontrollers, and was hoping someone might be able to answer a design question:
Is it possible to simultaneously trickle charge my battery while it powers the Arduino? If it's possible, then I might just have a bad charge circuit design, but as it stands, the battery will only charge from the solar panel when I disconnect it from the Arduino.
I posted it for sale online:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/116627384/xiivi-the-present-clock
and would ideally like to work out whether simultaneous charging/powering is possible on the off chance someone actually decides to buy one.
Thanks in advance, and sorry if I've done a lousy job describing things - I'm very new to all of this...
Justin