Wireless charging is an accessible technology, but the general feeling is that it hasn't quite taken off yet. However, this has a positive side: we can experiment with it without destroying our budget. Youtuber atomic14 has shared several videos dedicated to wireless charging, and in one of his latest projects, he decided to push it to the limit with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and the help of the Doomguy.
Doom became everyone's favorite "Hello World", but regardless of the platform chosen, our marine demon hunter needs power. We still remember the case of youtuber Equalo, who used an impressive amount of rotten potatoes to play Doom on a calculator (hasn't posted a video in two years; maybe he's still trapped in that hell). What's next? Youtuber atomic14 has a proposal: Wireless charging.
The efficiency of wireless chargers, ft. Doomguy
No, the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W doesn't have a stellar framerate without additional tweaks, but the most important thing here is that it consumes 650 milliamps along with a 3.5-inch screen. The transmission module for wireless charging can support up to 12 volts of input, but the receiver exceeds 80 degrees with that voltage. Instead, a 9-volt power supply makes the entire setup run at a lower temperature and gain efficiency (73 percent at 0.4a). The big challenge is aligning the coils correctly. Without a solid visual reference, the Pi Zero 2W suffers all kinds of intermittencies.
The most obvious solution is to connect the wireless charging receiver to a TP4056 module, which also includes a boost converter. Unfortunately, this led to a new problem: Quality control from China is a real lottery, and the resistors on the module were incorrect, generating a voltage too high for the Raspberry Pi. With a minimal adjustment (basically adding another resistor), and a simple 1,000 mAh battery, the wireless sessions of the Doomguy on the 2W became much more stable.
