Skip to main content

Current draw of ATtiny85 ticking clock using watchdog timer

I modified the previous watchdog timer code to test the current draw of ATtiny85 ticking a clock using POWER_DOWN deep sleep.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
#include <avr/io.h>
#include <avr/wdt.h>
#include <avr/sleep.h>
#include <avr/interrupt.h>
#include <avr/power.h>

#define TIMER0_PRESCALER 1024
#define OCR0A_DEFVAL ((byte)(F_CPU / (float)TIMER0_PRESCALER * 200/1000.0) - 1)
#define adc_disable() (ADCSRA &= ~(1<<ADEN)) // disable ADC (before power-off)

volatile byte timer0_tickpin = PB3;
volatile bool wdtimer = false;

void startTimer0() {
  // Set prescaler to 1024, thereby starting Timer0
  TCCR0B = bit(CS02) | bit(CS00); 
}

void stopTimer0() {
  // Set prescaler to 0, thereby stopping Timer0
  TCCR0B = 0;
}

// Interrupt service routine for Timer0
// The effective outcome is to toggle tickpin high for 100ms, then rest for 200ms
ISR(TIMER0_COMPA_vect) {
    stopTimer0();
    digitalWrite(timer0_tickpin, LOW);
    timer0_tickpin = (timer0_tickpin == PB3 ? PB4: PB3);
}

ISR(WDT_vect) {
  wdtimer = true;
}

void setup() {
  pinMode(PB3, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(PB3, LOW);
  pinMode(PB4, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(PB4, LOW);

  power_adc_disable();

  // Reset prescalers for Timer0 and Timer1
  GTCCR |= bit(PSR0) | bit(PSR1);

  // Setup Timer0 (but don't run it yet)
  TCCR0A = 0;
  TCCR0B = 0;
  TCNT0  = 0;
  TCCR0A = bit(WGM01); // CTC mode
  OCR0A = OCR0A_DEFVAL;

  // Interrupt on compare match with OCR0A
  TIMSK |= bit(OCIE0A);

  // Set up watchdog timer
  MCUSR &= ~_BV(WDRF);
  WDTCR |= (_BV(WDCE) | _BV(WDE));   // Enable the WD Change Bit
  WDTCR =   _BV(WDIE) |              // Enable WDT Interrupt
    _BV(WDP2) | _BV(WDP1);           // Set Timeout to ~1 seconds (or something)

  set_sleep_mode(SLEEP_MODE_PWR_DOWN);
  sleep_mode();
}

void loop() {
  if (wdtimer) {
    wdtimer = false;
    digitalWrite(timer0_tickpin, HIGH);
    startTimer0();
    set_sleep_mode(SLEEP_MODE_IDLE);
    sleep_mode();
  } else {
    set_sleep_mode(SLEEP_MODE_PWR_DOWN);
    sleep_mode();
  }
}

In summary, the watchdog timer wakes up the ATtiny85 every sec. The tickpin is toggled within a 200ms window using IDLE sleep (via Timer0), then it will go back to deep sleep for 800ms. The current draw as measured is 1.7mA.

If the deep sleep current draw of the D1 Mini can be reduced from 0.8 to 0.1mA by using a barebones ESP8266, then the current draw of the ATtiny85 is only 1mA.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cooling mod for the X96 Air #2

Previously, I added a USB cooling fan to the X96 Air TV box . The problem with this mod is that the fan is always running, and it runs at full speed. Ideally, the fan should kick in only when the CPU temperature is above a certain threshold. It would be even better if there is a way to control the fan speed. Dan McDonald left me a comment pointing to his project on Github . He basically connected the fan to a USB relay that can be controlled by Python script. His project inspired me to make a similar mod that would make use of the spare D1 Mini boards I have lying around. The plan is to hook up the fan to a MOSFET (2N7000) and control it via PWM. Here's the very simple circuit: The code simply reads a single character from the serial port (0 - 9). 0 will turn the fan off, while 1 - 9 will generate a proportional PWM to drive the fan, with 1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest. Here's the Arduino code: #include <Arduino.h> void setup () { Serial . begin ( 9600 ...

Installing and customizing CoreELEC in X96 Air

I previously installed CoreELEC on another TV Box ( Ugoos X3 Pro ), which unfortunately died after only 9 months during the summer (due to the unit overheating, which I learned is a common problem for cheap Android TV boxes). So this time I purchased a X96 Air  (4GB/32Gb) and had to do the whole thing again. So this is a note-to-self in case I ever have to install CoreELEC again on some other device. Installation of CoreELEC is simple enough by following this guide . Basically, it involves downloading and writing the firmware to a microSD card using usbimager . Then insert the microSD card, reset the unit and hold the reset until the logo appears. The unit will then proceed to boot into CoreELEC. First thing is to connect to WiFi, then enable SSH. This allows me to login via ssh and execute: ceemmc -x from the terminal. This writes CoreELEC to the built-in eMMC storage, after which I am able to remove the microSD card and reboot the unit into CoreELEC via the built-in sto...

DC-DC Buck Stepdown Converter for ESP8266

I am working on a project that requires a step-down converter from 12V to 5V, that will then power a WeMOS D1 Mini. I saw this new mini buck converter based on the usual LM2596 MP2307 , so I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Although it is supposed to be able to supply up to 1.8A, the D1 Mini was not able to boot up. The 5V pin was being properly supplied, but the 3.3V pin measures at only ~1.3V. So I had to go back to my usual LM2596 module, which is much larger, but works to power the D1 Mini with a 12V source. Here's a great review of the mini buck converter I found while trying to figure out how to make it work. The fact that it has high quiescent current (~60mA) is also mentioned in a few other sources.