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Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

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Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#81

Post by alexkiritz »

centizen wrote: post #80
alexkiritz wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has three high power voltage converter circuits which are needed for it to support USB Power Delivery. Those are more expensive than the batteries and no other device has three of them. Lithium-ion packs are measured at 3.7 volts, not 5.

Buck or SEPIC based DC/DC conversion systems absolutely do not cost more than even a single LiIon cell. And to have multiple converters is far from a novel concept. I think this is a neat implementation but there is no technical justification for this price tag, and the idea is far from unique. Looks cool though, and I guess for some that's all that will matter.

This isn't just a simple unidirectional converter. Power must flow in both directions.

We are also using ultra high efficiency parts and may also increase the power to over 100 watts if we can get it approved/ make it safe.

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#82

Post by nwh »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #69
nwh wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My MacBook would need 18A @ 5v + 10% loss in the DCDC, that's one hell of a thick power connector.

Which is one reason why the trontium can supply up to 20V.

I know. I was demonstrating why it wouldn't be a 5v supply rather a 20v one.

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#83

Post by alexkiritz »

alexkiritz wrote: post #35
kubiiii wrote: post #21

Two things from the website : >We created Trontium to drive humanity forward Ok I cant discuss the reasons why you created trontium and driving humanity forward is indeed a great goal but wow this is just a (rather cool) battery. Plus I think the keyboard (a yamaha psr E403 I think) featured in the pictures is not usb powered. Other than that I'm impressed by the 8 charges you can make with the dewalt drill. Great to…

You're right. That keyboard is not USB powered. That's why we're making adapter cables. I'll be posting a tutorial on the site later today with pictures, but the general idea is that you can buy an adapter cable for whatever device you have and then set its voltage requirements in an app. https://trontalk.com/filedata/fetch?photoid=147

Tutorial

https://trontium.com/adapter-cable-tutorial/

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#84

Post by alexkiritz »

blt wrote: post #72

The protruding sheet metal on the end caps says "prototype". It doesn't have the refined quality that the price tag suggests. The edge looks like it came straight off a sheet metal shear. At least put a nice machined edge on it.

That lip is so you can screw a clear plastic endcap on and use it underwater.

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#85

Post by alexkiritz »

userbinator wrote: post #49

Not sure what I get what all the hype on the site is about. It's a big rechargeable battery you can use to power all your USB things... ok this one supports USB-PD (how many devices support that?) but is that really that big of a deal? Right now it looks like a solution looking for a problem. The idea of negotiating voltage (up to 20V) just doesn't seem all that great to me: consider a failure mode that lets the full…

USB Power Delivery starts out at 5V. Voltage is only increased when a signal is received from a device requesting more than 5V and after the devices confirm that the cable is capable of carrying the power.
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