Arduino Battery Charger Project

An Arduino Battery Charger: How to save the planet one battery at a time! Did you know that all those single use batteries (alkaline ones) that have a label on them saying "Do Not Recharge" are in fact chargeable!

Of course some will not be and some will charge a little bit better than others. But even getting on re-use out of a throw-away battery seems like a better way to go.

 The criteria for whether or not the battery is re-chargeable or not is first of all give it a visual inspection. If it has powdery residue on it then it is dead so re-cycle it in your local battery re-cycling place.

The next thing to determine re-chargeability is whether or not the battery voltage has fallen below 0.8V. If it is too low then you are unlikely to get anywhere. You could measure this with a volt meter or just use the project below that does this automatically for you (I set the level to 0.75 since the voltage measurement is not absolutely accurate (Voltage regs usually have a ±10% regulation so you don't get exactly 5V out - also the reference voltage I used is using two divider resistors so that's another 10%). It is not absolutely critical for charging alkaline batteries.

Note: This alkaline battery charger project is not suitable for re-charging NimH, NiCd or Li based batteries. Lithium batteries (Li) require a voltage regulation of at least 1% and an absolute exact cut off voltage, otherwise there is a risk of explosion. Just use the project as it stands for alkaline batteries (standard single-use batteries of nominal voltage 1.5V).
Warning: Some batteries will leak, so inspect them first (preferably wearing gloves). if you see white powder on them dispose of them at a battery re-cycling center.

Arduino Battery Charger Schematic

arduionodry cell battery charger circuit diagram

Note: If you don't have a serial LCD just use the parallel connections shown here and adjust the code accordingly. You will only need to adjust the initialiser (for pins) as the libraries are based on identical code and will therefore operate using the same instructions e.g. for lcd.print etc.
Note: You can use any general purpose low volt PNP transistor for this circuit.

Arduino Battery Charger Circuit operation

First of all when CHRG and HCHRG are floating then R1 pulls the transistor base high so no current flows = OFF.

Pulling CHRG low results in a constant current of 21.3mA and then pulling HCRG low results in an increased charging current of 33mA.

Note: These are nominal values and will vary with the tolerance of the resistors used and the ambient temperature. For these dry cells the exact values are not important.

The basic operation is to start charging the battery at low current for a period, and then charge at a high current for another period. If the battery voltage increases, during high charge, then carry on charging, if not, then charging is finished (as long as the battery is within the acceptable voltage limits).

Arduino Battery Charger charging current

When CHRG is pulled low R1, R2 and R3 are enabled forming a resistive divider that sets the base voltage at

3.28V : 5*((1e3+560)/(1e3+560+820))

So the voltage across the base of the transistor, i.e. across R1, is:

1.722 : 5 - 3.26

The base emitter diode drop is 0.7V so that leaves 1V dropped across R4. This therefore allows you to define the charging current i.e. for the 47R resistor shown the charging current will be

21.3mA : 1.0/47

Arduino Battery Charger high current Charging

When HCHRG is pulled low (regardless of CHRG) then resistor R3 is shorted out to ground. So the voltage now dropped across (only) R2 is:

2.74V : 5*((1e3)/(1e3+820))

This the voltage across the base of the transistor, i.e. across R1, is:

2.25V : 5 - 2.74

Now the voltage drop across R1 is:

1.55 : 2.25 - 0.7

Which results in a charging current of:

33mA : 1.55/47

AREF External voltage

The voltage divider formed by R8 and R9 halves the voltage used for the ADC reference so the maximum that the ADC can read is 2.5V which is plenty since we only really need to measure up to about 1.6V. Having a lower AREF voltage also means that each bit of the ADC has a lower value i.e. a finer resolution - instead of 4.88mV it is 2.44mV per bit so the ADC can see smaller voltage changes at the battery.

Displays

You can use only the LCD display or only the LEDs. You will get a green (pass) or red (fail) light at the end of charging. The LCD displays more information such as the current voltage level at the battery, the start voltage of the battery and the elapsed time. It also shows the state variable (really for debug) that lets you know where the code is at. In addition the serial port outputs text messages showing you what happened. So the LCD is not really essential for operation but is useful if you make a stand alone unit.

Serial Monitor

You can use the serial monitor (in the Arduino IDE) to observe operation as serial data is also reported showing state machine operation, adc values and voltages.

Software Library and versions

Arduino IDE Version

Version : 1.8.3

Library

The normal library used for the Hitachi HD44780 display is called liquidCrystal and the process below will replace it with different code so that you can create a serial driven LCD using an 74HC595 serial to parallel chip.

In the original library you need the following code to initialise an instantiation of the LiquidCrystal Class:

    LiquidCrystal lcd(LCD_RS,LCD_E,LCD_D4,LCD_D5,LCD_D6,LCD_D7);

This is a 4 bit interface which is commonly used as the default parallel interface (it is possible to use an 8 bit interface but does not give much advantage). So in that interface you need a total of 6 pins to drive the chip.

When you use the SPI version of the LiquidCrystal interface then the initialiser is:

    LiquidCrystal lcd(SPI_SS_PIN);

This looks like it uses only one pin but in fact it uses the standard SPI pins:

  •     MOSI
  •     SCK

SPI_SS_PIN is simply the user defined Slave Select pin while the others are set at fixed pins on the Arduino board. So by adding a 74HC595 to drive those original pins, seen in the first initialiser, you can save three pins. Not only that, these SPI pins can be used to drive other SPI devices (with a different SS signal). 

TIP: You can use other SPI devices with a different SS control pin.

If you don't have an 74HC595 then you can use the same sketch as below but wire up the LCD as shown here (4 bit parallel interface) - and don't change the library (below). The SPI library uses the same functions as the normal library so the code sketch does not change.

Note: Use the LiquidCyrstal SPI library if you are using a serial SPI LCD.

Replacing the liquidCrystal Library

The liquidCrystal library is replaced with one that allows SPI operation:

Download the (SPI) LiquidCrystal library from:

https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/LiquidCrystal#Download

Then goto your library location:

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Arduino\libraries

Rename directory LiquidCrystal to LiquidCrystal_orig.

Then unzip the downloaded file here which should result in a new folder

LiquidCrystal

Note: This library specifies the pinout of the LCD and 74HC595 which must match the schematic:

You can find the schematic here (Wiring diagram 74HC595 to  Hitachi HD44780):

https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/LiquidCrystal#Connections

There 's no facility to change pins (you could change the library code though to change them to your own 74HC595 - HD44780 connections if desired).

Code Operation State Machine

The Arduino Battery Charger code is formed from a simple state machine. These are the main states:

IDLE, BATFND, CHARGE, HIGH_CHARGE, TEST, FINISHED, FAIL, WAIT_START

You can more or less read these from left to right and see what the code is doing.

IDLE

First of all in the IDLE state the system is set up to charge.

BATFND

Then in the BATFND state the voltage is checked (during low charge) to see if a valid battery is present.

If out of range then the state is set to FAIL.

If in range then the state is set to CHARGE.

CHARGE

In the CHARGE state low charge current continues for 30 seconds. At the end the ADC reading is stored in the variable lowChrgADC.

After 30 seconds the state is set to HIGH_CHARGE and the high current output activated.

The state changes to HIGH_CHARGE after 30s.

Two other tests are made (all the time).

Battery reaches max voltage

1. The state is set to FINISHED.

Battery is out of range

2. The state is set to FAIL.

HIGH_CHARGE

After 30 seconds the state is set to TEST

The state changes to TEST after 30s.

Two other tests are made (all the time).

Battery reaches max voltage

1. The state is set to FINISHED.

Battery is out of range

2. The state is set to FAIL.

TEST

Battery Voltage Increase for High Charge

This is where the decision is made either to terminate the process or continue. First of all, if the current ADC value (at the end of high charge compared to the ADC value at the end of the low current charge period) is not high enough (<9.77mV) then the battery is considered to be charged and the state is set to FINISHED.

The state of the battery (out of range) is not tested here since it has been continuously tested in states CHARGE and HIGH_CHARGE.

Detecting Final Charge : test_avg()

Some batteries hover around a final value but change their voltage output enough during High charge so that the algorithm can't stop. To detect this state (over several charge and high-charge cycles) requires storing ADC values so a rolling shift register containing the last 10 low charging ADC values is used for detection.

In the function test_avg() the array prevADC[] is tested to see if the values are all within 1 value of the average of those 10 readings. If they are, then the state machine goes to the FIINISHED state i.e. this shows there has been no 'real' change in battery voltage over the last few charging cycles.

After each test phase the array is shifted and the latest low charge ADC value is inserted.

If neither of the above cases is true then the state machine goes back to IDLE.

The next state is :

FINISHED (if battery voltage is high enough) or

FINISHED for no average battery change or

IDLE (if the others are not true).

FINISHED

The controls and LEDs are set: (green LED is lit to indicate success) and charging is turned off.

The next state is WAIT_START.

FAIL

The controls and LEDs are set: (red LED is lit to indicate failure) and charging is turned off.

The next state is WAIT_START.

WAIT_START

Here is the only state that allows restart detecting a button press on the input pin. When pressed, various variables are initialised for a complete restart.

When pressed the state is set to IDLE.

Arduino Battery Charger Sketch

// AA and AAA charger
// Could use for others with different charge currents
// i.e. different emitter resistors.
//
// LiquidCrystal library used here is not the original
// download an enhanced version from
// https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/LiquidCrystal
// LiquidCrystal_1.zip allows SPI operation.
//
// V1.00
// Copyright John Main
// Free for non-commercial use.
//
#include <SPI.h>
#include <LiquidCrystal.h> // Enhanced for SPI operation.

#define START_PIN 12
#define RLED_PIN A4
#define GLED_PIN A5

#define VBATT_PIN A0
#define CHRG_PIN 2
#define HIGH_PIN 3
#define SPI_SS_PIN 10

#define CHARGE_ON  pinMode(CHRG_PIN,OUTPUT);digitalWrite(CHRG_PIN,LOW);
#define CHARGE_OFF pinMode(CHRG_PIN,INPUT);
#define HIGH_ON    pinMode(HIGH_PIN,OUTPUT);digitalWrite(HIGH_PIN,LOW);
#define HIGH_OFF   pinMode(HIGH_PIN,INPUT);
#define RLED_ON    digitalWrite(RLED_PIN,HIGH);
#define RLED_OFF   digitalWrite(RLED_PIN,LOW);
#define GLED_ON    digitalWrite(GLED_PIN,HIGH);
#define GLED_OFF   digitalWrite(GLED_PIN,LOW);
#define SPC        Serial.print(' ');

#define VBATMAX 1.60 // Maximum and minimum acceptable battery.
#define VBATMIN 0.75 // voltage to allow charging to start.
#define VREFANA 2.50 // Reference voltage (AREF). Measure this with DMM.
#define CHRG_ms 30000 // Time period of normal charging time (ms).
#define HIGH_ms 30000 // Time period of normal higher power charging time (ms).

#define PREV_ADC 10  // Number of nearly same ADC readings to declare done.

typedef enum { IDLE, BATFND, CHARGE, HIGH_CHARGE, TEST,
               FINISHED, FAIL, WAIT_START } state_t;

enum { BATTFULL, BATTAVGSTABLE, BATTBAD, BATTNORISE };

// Initialize for SPI with sspin, also known as RCLK or LATCH.
// For the lcd other pins are the standard SPI pins.
LiquidCrystal lcd(SPI_SS_PIN);

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
void setup() {

   pinMode(VBATT_PIN,INPUT);
   pinMode(START_PIN,INPUT_PULLUP);

   pinMode(CHRG_PIN,OUTPUT);
   pinMode(HIGH_PIN,OUTPUT);
   pinMode(GLED_PIN,OUTPUT);
   pinMode(RLED_PIN,OUTPUT);

   CHARGE_OFF
   HIGH_OFF
   RLED_OFF
   GLED_OFF
   analogReference(EXTERNAL);

   // set up the LCD's number of columns and rows:
   lcd.begin(16, 2);



   Serial.begin(57600);
   Serial.println("Battery Charger ");
    showStartVolts();
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Print start volts to LCD & serial(for reference).
void showStartVolts(void) {

  float v = getVana( analogRead(VBATT_PIN) ) ;

  lcd.setCursor(11, 0);
  lcd.print( v,3 );
  Serial.print("\nStart volts: ");
  Serial.println( v,3 );
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
void reason(uint8_t c) {
   Serial.print("End reason: ");
   switch(c) {
      case BATTFULL       : Serial.println("Max volts."); break;
      case BATTAVGSTABLE  : Serial.println("No avg change."); break;
      case BATTBAD        : Serial.println("Out of range.");
      case BATTNORISE     : Serial.println("No Hchrg rise.");
   }
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
void loop() {
  static uint32_t loop_time = 0;

  if (millis()-loop_time>250) {  // No need execute too fast
     action();
     loop_time = millis();
  }
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
float getVana(uint16_t adc) {
    return adc * VREFANA / 1024;
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
uint8_t checkBattBad(float Vana) {
   if ( Vana<VBATMIN || Vana>VBATMAX ) return 1;
   return 0;
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
uint8_t checkBattFinished(float Vana) {
   if ( Vana>=VBATMAX-0.1 ) return 1;
   return 0;
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
void showSerialElapsedTime(uint32_t r_time) {
   Serial.print("Time:");
   Serial.print(r_time/1000/60);
   Serial.println(" mins.");
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
void showState(state_t state) {

   // This state has no text, to leave FINISHED or FAIL on LCD.
   if (state == WAIT_START) return;

   // Show current state
   lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
   lcd.print("           "); // 11 chars clear debug area.
   lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
   switch( state) {
     case IDLE : lcd.print("IDLE");break;
     case BATFND : lcd.print("BATFND");break;
     case CHARGE : lcd.print("CHRG");break;
     case HIGH_CHARGE : lcd.print("H-CHRG");break;
     case TEST : lcd.print("TEST");break;
     case FINISHED : lcd.print  ("FINSHD");break;
     case FAIL : lcd.print("FAIL");break;
//     case WAIT_START : lcd.print("WAIT");break;
    default: break;
   }
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
void showTime(uint32_t timeVal_ms) { // could use sprinf - this = less memory.
  uint8_t lcdpos;
  uint16_t tmin,tsec;
  uint32_t t;

    t = timeVal_ms;
    tmin = (t/1000/60); // Could use sprintf but smaller code using:

    if (tmin >= 1) { // Print minutes since reset
       lcdpos = 12;
       if (tmin>99) lcdpos = 10;
          else if (tmin>9) lcdpos = 11;
       lcd.setCursor(lcdpos, 1);

       lcd.print(tmin);
       lcd.print(':');
    }

    // Print seconds since reset.
    tsec = (t/1000) % 60;

    lcd.setCursor(14, 1);
    if (tsec<10)
       lcd.print('0');
    lcd.print(tsec);
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
// -1 resets the store
//
uint8_t test_avg(uint16_t adc) {
uint8_t i,match,allmatch;
static uint16_t prevADC[PREV_ADC];
uint16_t avg;

   if (adc==-1) {
      for(i=0;i<PREV_ADC;i++) prevADC[i]=0;
      return;
   }

   // Get average value
      avg = 0;
      Serial.print("AVG:");
      for (i=0;i<PREV_ADC;i++) {
         Serial.print(prevADC[i]); SPC;
         avg+=prevADC[i];
      }
      avg += 5;  // =0.5 after division by 10
      avg /=10;
      Serial.print("Avg ");Serial.println(avg);

      // If any are zero then not filled: set avg zero to stop err. match
      for (i=0;i<PREV_ADC;i++) {
          if (prevADC[i]==0) {
             avg = 0;
             Serial.println("Avg zet ZERO");
             break;
          }
      }

      // Check if has not increased over last n readings - if so exit.
      allmatch = 1;

      for (i=0;i<PREV_ADC;i++) {
         match = 0;
         // Detect close matches: lowChrgADC+/-2 (+/-4.88mV)
         if ( avg-1 <= prevADC[i] && prevADC[i] <= avg+1 ) match=1;

         // Here if the value is one of 3: lowChrgADC+/-1, then match is high
         if (!match) { allmatch = 0; break; }
      }

      // Update rolling store. // Array indices 0 ~ (n-1) shift.
      for (i=0;i<PREV_ADC-1;i++) prevADC[i]=prevADC[i+1];
      prevADC[PREV_ADC-1] = adc;

      // allmatch is 1 if all have matched for all elements.
      if (allmatch && avg!=0) { // Zero is a special case.
         reason(BATTAVGSTABLE);
         return 1; // All the same so indicate finished.
      }
      return 0;
}



///////////////////////////////////////////////////
void action(void) {
   static uint32_t s_time = millis();
   static uint32_t r_time = s_time; // Relative, start times.
   static uint32_t timewas = 0, timewas_state=r_time;
   static state_t state = IDLE;
   static uint16_t lowChrgADC=0;
   static uint8_t timer_on=1;
   uint16_t adc=0;
   float Vana;
   static uint8_t done_once = 0;

   if (!done_once) {
      test_avg(-1); // Reset store.
      done_once=1;
   }

   r_time = millis() - s_time; // Use time relative to start
   if (timer_on) showTime(r_time); // Time since start: to LCD.

   adc = analogRead(VBATT_PIN);
   lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
   lcd.print("Vb:");
   lcd.print(Vana=getVana(adc),3);

   switch( state) {

   case IDLE :
       state = BATFND;
       Serial.println("IDLE>BATFND");

       CHARGE_ON   // Start charge to detect battery.
       HIGH_OFF

       RLED_OFF
       GLED_OFF

       showSerialElapsedTime(r_time);

       break;

   case BATFND : // Battery ok?
       Serial.println("BATFND>CHARGE");

       if ( checkBattBad(Vana) ) {
          state = FAIL; // Battery is dead or not present.
          Serial.println("FAIL in BATFND");
       } else if (Vana>=VBATMIN && Vana<=VBATMAX) {
           state = CHARGE;
       }
       break;

   case CHARGE :
      if ( checkBattBad(Vana) )      { reason(BATTBAD) ; state = FAIL; }
      if ( checkBattFinished(Vana) ) { reason(BATTFULL); state = FINISHED; }
      else if (r_time - timewas_state>CHRG_ms) {
         Serial.println("CHARGE>HCHARGE");

         lowChrgADC = adc; // Store value just before high charge time.

         HIGH_ON
         state = HIGH_CHARGE;
         timewas_state = r_time;
      }
      break;

   case HIGH_CHARGE :
      if ( checkBattBad(Vana) )      { reason(BATTBAD) ; state = FAIL; }
      if ( checkBattFinished(Vana) ) { reason(BATTFULL); state = FINISHED; }
      else if ( r_time - timewas_state>HIGH_ms) {
         Serial.println("HCHARGE>TEST");
         state = TEST;
         timewas_state = r_time;
      }
      break;

   case TEST :
      Serial.println("TEST>IDLE/FINISHED");
      Serial.println("Cur adc,lowChrgADC");
      Serial.print(adc);       SPC; Serial.println(getVana(adc),3);
      Serial.print(lowChrgADC);SPC;Serial.println(getVana(lowChrgADC),3);

      if ( adc > (lowChrgADC+4) ) {  // Gone up by > (2.5/1024)*4=9.77mV
         state= IDLE;
      } else { // No rise so batery charge maxed out.
         reason(BATTNORISE);
         state = FINISHED;
      }

      if ( test_avg(lowChrgADC) ) state = FINISHED;

      break;

   case FAIL : // Error condition so stop charging battery.
      Serial.println("FAIL");
      CHARGE_OFF
      HIGH_OFF
      timer_on = 0;
      RLED_ON
      GLED_OFF
      state = WAIT_START;
      break;

   case FINISHED :
      Serial.print("FINISHED:");
      Serial.println(Vana);
      showSerialElapsedTime(r_time);

      CHARGE_OFF
      HIGH_OFF
      RLED_OFF
      GLED_ON
      timer_on = 0;
      state = WAIT_START;
      break;

   case WAIT_START :
      if ( digitalRead(START_PIN)==0) {
         state = IDLE;

         s_time = millis();
         r_time  = millis()-s_time;
         timewas_state = r_time;

         timer_on = 1;
         test_avg(-1); // Reset store.
         lcd.clear();
         showStartVolts();
      }
      break;
   }

   showState(state);

   // Show raw adc value
   lcd.setCursor(7, 0);
   lcd.print(adc);lcd.print(' ');
}

The definition VREFANA is nominally 2.5V but I measured it using a Digital Multimeter and placed the value into the code, to give a more accurate reading. If you don't want to do that just leave the value as 2.5.


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