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The article mentions microcontrollers that use 100 milliwatts as the lower end of embedded CPUs. There are actually microcontrollers that use around 1milliwatt
by xja 10y ago
The article mentions microcontrollers that use 100 milliwatts as the lower end of embedded CPUs.
There are actually microcontrollers that use around 1milliwatt for very low power applications. For example the msp430. TI have a neat video of one running using power generated from grapes:
https://youtu.be/nPZISRQAQpw https://youtu.be/nPZISRQAQpw
- david-given 10y agoLast time this came up someone pointed me at the new generation of ultra-low-power ARMs: http://www.atmel.com/products/microcontrollers/arm/sam-l.aspx http://www.atmel.com/products/microcontrollers/arm/sam-l.asp... 35µA/MHz, so with careful selection of peripherals you probably don't even need a whole milliamp.
- dbcurtis 10y agoYes, I play with little robots built with microcomtrollers. For some of our little boards my friends and I make we leave off the LEDs because they consume more battery than the CPU. (Of course the motor makes up for that quickly...)
- sbierwagen 10y agoDesigning microamp-level systems can be interesting. From http://www.ganssle.com/rants/leaks_and_drains.html http://www.ganssle.com/rants/leaks_and_drains.html : I put one of the boards under a microscope and looked at some of the ancillary parts. There's a 22 uF decoupling capacitor. No real surprise there. It appears to be one of those nice Kemet polymer tantalums designed for high-density SMT applications. The datasheet pegs the cap's internal leakage at 22 uA. That means the capacitor draws a thousand times more power than the dozing CPU.