Did you know that you can easily use a USB cable instead of a battery to power your circuits?

You just need a USB breakout board, a simple and cheap component, and you can get 5V from the USB port of your computer or a standard phone charger to power your circuits.

A breakout board is a board that "breaks out" the pins of a component for you. In this case, it breaks out the pins for a USB connector. And from these pins, you have access to a 5V supply.

This makes it easy to connect a USB cable to a breadboard or solder it to a perfboard.

Great for experimenting on your workbench!
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But another cool thing is that you can easily make a battery-powered project by using a USB power bank. No need to think about charger circuitry (which could be complex) as your power bank already has this.

You could for example use this to build your own flashlight.

Here's a super simple emergency light I made using 5 LEDs in parallel and a resistor:

But you could also use it to build a battery-powered robot, portable bluetooth speakers, or a remote-controlled car.

You don't need to know a lot of electronics in order to build cool things!

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Keep On Soldering!
Oyvind @ build-electronic-circuits.com

PS! Are you into electronics and need some guidance to get to the level you want to be - here are two ways I can help you get better at electronics:

• ​Ohmify​ is for people like you who are interested in electronics and want to learn skills like soldering, circuit design, Arduino, and circuit board design - while also building practical projects along the way.
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• ​Getting Started With Electronics: This beginner-friendly eBook I crafted to help newcomers dive into electronics. It’s packed with simple instructions to get you started. Perfect for those new to the field.