I need to run at least 2 Pi together, one controlling hardware and another sensing its environment. I would like to keep weight down by using a single LiIon battery. I have one to connect to a PiJuice hat (12000Mah IIRC) which should power one Pi for a day. Is there a way that I can power both Pi from the single battery?
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1Which version of pi is that? – Sohan Arafat Nov 2 at 17:15
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1Assume two 3 B’s , one controlling two motors and the other using a SenseHat to establish direction and angular velocity. A PiZero might be suitable for the motor control, if that reduces SWAP requirements – Nick Nov 2 at 17:26
The best solution of your problem is using a High discharge Li-po battery cluster(12V) with a 5V-10A BEC. In this way you can get the power to run two pi's efficiently and without any throttle. But you need a powerful battery if you want to use it some more time without charging it now and then.
A single battery doesn't have that much discharge rate.
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Sohan Arafat, (1) Is this battery good enough? (1) Amazon Lipo (Lithium Polymer) 3 Cell Battery, 11.1V, 5200mAh, 50C High Discharge, 3S1P Config for RC - $45 amazon.com/Battery-Batteries-Dean-Style-Connector-Vehicles/dp/…, (2) Is 50C very powerful? Why not mentioned here? - "What Is C-rate? - Battery University": batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/what_is_the_c_rate. – tlfong01 Nov 3 at 1:43
I'm assuming the battery is inserted in the PiJuice HAT on one Pi.
That means that Pi will have a 5V supply at the 5V power rail. You can use that to power the other Pi by connecting the grounds of both Pis and one or more of the 5V pins on both Pis.
The only question is would the 5V supply be enough to run the other Pi. As you haven't mentioned the Pi models being used we can't say.