Kickstart Design's AmpRipper 4000 Is a 4A Lithium Battery Board for All Your 5V Power Needs
Dropping the USB Type-A port, the new AmpRipper 4000 has more grunt than its predecessor plus I2C battery monitoring.
UPDATE (5/3/2023): Kickstart Design has officially launched its crowdfunding campaign for the AmpRipper 4000, a 5V 4A battery charger and boost module building on the company's earlier AmpRipper 3000.
Physical rewards begin at $24 for a "basic" fully-populated AmpRipper 4000 board, or $40 for a model which includes a custom anodized aluminum heatsink and fan assembly to keep the hardware cool during periods of sustained high current draw. No models include batteries, which must be supplied separately.
Interested parties can now back Kickstart Design's campaign on Kickstarter, with hardware expected to begin shipping this May.
Original article continues below.
Kickstart Design has announced the impending launch of its next-generation battery supply board for Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and other electronic projects, the AmpRipper 4000 — and promises a major upgrade the earlier AmpRipper 3000 design.
"As makers, we were tired of dealing with the unreliable, under powered, inaccessible battery modules that are currently available. So we made our own, the AmpRipper 3000, and sold them to makers suffering from the same headaches," Kickstart Design explains. "Since the beginning, our goal with the AmpRipper series has been to provide makers with powerful, durable, intelligent battery charge & boost modules. Taking what we’ve learned from our first module, we set out to design an even better one, the AmpRipper 4000."
The AmpRipper 3000 was unveiled in September 2021, using the Monolithic Power MP2624 to turn almost any lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery capable of outputting between 3.7V and 4.2V into a power supply for DIY electronic projects. The board offered a sustained 5V 3A output shared between a USB Type-C and a USB Type-A port, with a second Type-C port for charging, wuth cooling recommended for high-drain workloads.
The AmpRipper 4000 shares the overall design of its predecessor, though the USB Type-A port has been ditched. A bigger change is the move to Monolithic's MP2617, paired with a MP3424 boost converter, which delivers up to 4A — a full third higher than its predecessor. For those whose projects don't take USB, the power output is also available on through-hole terminals.
Another improvement in the new design is the inclusion of an Analog Devices MAX17048 battery monitor, which can be accessed via I2C to query the current battery voltage and charge percentage. Finally, the board includes a custom heatsink and fan assembly — optional, but recommended if you're likely to be running it at its top capacity for prolonged periods.
This time around, Kickstart Design will be launching its board on Kickstarter with a crowdfunding campaign due to begin in March this year. Pricing has yet to be confirmed, but is expected to be sub-$40 — as with the original AmpRipper 3000. More information is available on the Kickstart Design website, along with a link to be notified when the campaign goes live.