Before I made an attempt at creating a mutant iPhone, which turned out pretty good, I had a go at assembling a Minty Boost. A Minty Boost is a homemade portable charger, designed by ladyada.net, which works with regular AA batteries and has a USB plug, it’s able to charge almost anything that can be charged with a USB cable. And yes, it charges iPhones, doesn’t that sound like music to your ears?
The website lists all the parts needed, several schematics and a walkthough on how to assemble it. All parts can be bought online or you can search for them at your local hardware/electronics store. I choose to buy 2 sets online, since I had a hard time locating the IC chip in Belgium. A set costs $19.50 and contains all the parts needed, including a custom made PCB board (big plus). I choose the cheapest shipping method ($6) and it took only a week to get to the other side of the big blue ocean. Customs did ask €10 for the parts though.
The actual assembly is pretty straightforward and can be done without any soldering experience. The only thing left to do now, is fitting it all in a little box. I’ll post some pictures of the actual finished product, once I find a suitable metal box.
