Portable Wireless Phone Charger

Is your phone Qi compliant? Ever have the urge to customize your own wireless charger? This blog will take you through a few simple steps to help create a one-of-a-kind unit.

Let’s start out with defining what Qi (pronounced CHEE) is and what it means to be considered compliant. Qi is derived from the Chinese word qi that means “energy flow”. This standardizes wireless energy transfer by the use of coils, or inductive charging. To date, this technology has been implemented into a majority of cell phones and other various devices.

The Qi wireless charger transmitter from Seeed Technologies is a user-friendly option to create a DIY charger. Plug it in to become a fully functioning device. To take it a step further, the rechargeable DC/DC step-up power boost from Adafruit was added. Plugging this 3.7 V LiPo battery into the power boost enables the charger to become truly wireless so it can be taken anywhere. Just charge the LiPo and it’s ready to go.

To show the diversity, an STL file was downloaded from an open source website, 3D printed, and modified into an enclosure for the charger. If a more simple, sleek enclosure is desired, this box can be modified to house the components. Here is a link to other enclosures that could also work: https://www.digikey.com/short/jp0d8d.

This is a very simple project that requires very few parts. If this interests you, but you’d like to dig a little deeper, stay tuned for our wireless car charger that will be made from scratch. For now, head over and watch the video of this simple wireless charger assembly process.