Test Equipment
Microcontroller Boards
Power Management

Open UpCell

An open source, USB Type C PD, single-cell BMS for Lithium-ion batteries

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Open UpCell is a USB Type-C PD single cell lithium-ion battery management system with either 5 V or 3.3 V outputs, up to 14 V input, and an i2c interface for battery and charge status monitoring. You can check battery levels, charge status, charge voltage selection, charge current selection, and more via the provided Arduino IDE and PlatformIO SDKs. Output and i2c voltage is selectable between 3.3 V and 5 V, and the board comes with Seeed Groove (JST-PH) and Stemma QT (JST-XH) 4 pin connectors to enable plug and play operation with pre-existing projects. Open UpCell is also capable of being a simple, rudimentary inverter for a project, with an up to 15 W output (5 V, 3 A) - enough to power a Raspberry Pi Board or small router.

Open UpCell enables rapid prototyping of battery dependent projects while keeping things simple from setup to charging. It can be used to power existing Seeed Grove module chains and Adafruit Stemma QT module chains. It can also keep your projects powered and usable off grid, perfect for some IoT and Edge projects, like an IoT soil sensor cluster or a simple PIR motion detector. And, at just a few mm larger than a standard 18650 battery, this useful system is small enough to be concealed in a DIY wearable project.

Features & Specifications

Comparisons

Open UpCell18650 ShieldLiFePO4wered/Pi+OEM Power Bank
Output - V3.3 V / 5 V 3.3 V, 5 V 5 V 5 V
Output - I3 A 1 A, 2.2 A 2 A 1 A - 3 A
Cell Types18650 Size Li-ion or LiFePO4; 2 Pin Li-Po 18650 size Li-ion 18650, 14500 size LiFePO4 N/A
Input Over Voltage ProtectionYes Yes Yes Yes
Input Over Current ProtectionYes No No Yes
Output Short Circuit ProtectionYes Yes Yes No
Fused InputsYes No No No
Temperature Loop ControlYes No No No
Over Charge ProtectionYes No Yes Yes
Open SourceYes No Yes No
Battery CapacityAny Any 600 - 1500 mAh Multiple
Battery Meteringi2c LEDs i2c, LEDs LEDs
ChargingUSB-C PD, Fast charging Micro - B Micro-B USB - C
Qwiic (JST-SH) CompatibleYes No No No
Seeed Grove (JST-PH) CompatibleYes No No No
Automatic H/W UPSNo (can be done in software) No Yes No
Charge Controlover i2c, default mode configured None, only default mode over i2c, default mode configured No
Additional components requiredBattery Battery None None
SDK/API for charge control and meteringYes, over i2c No Yes, over i2c No

Open Source

This project is proudly open source and OSHWA certified. Schematics, ECAD, Gerber files and BOM can be found in our Github repo.

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In the Press

Hackster News

"Despite its impressive feature list, the Open UpCell is also compact — measuring only marginally more than the footprint of an 18650 cell."

Circuit Digest

"[Open UpCell] can also keep your projects powered and usable off-grid, perfect for some IoT and Edge projects, like an IoT soil sensor cluster or a simple PIR motion detector. "

About the Team

Sikra

Pune, India  ·  sikra.io

Sikra is an open-source consumer devices company.

Ishan Daga

IshanDaga

Padmalaya Rawal

padmalaya-rawal

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