Agreed, and it seems to stem from the NiMH requirement. Maybe designing a protective shell around a LiPO battery (to avoid puncture damage) would have made more sense?
Pretty impressive work though! I think you must have learned a lot. I've spent quite some time on about 5 different projects that were way less polished, but it seems we have picked up the same level of skills along the way. The post is very recognizable ;) Looking forward to the your project!
I can understand not wanting to puncture a pouch style lithium-ion cell (what most people call LiPo), but then why not go for an 18650 or 14500 battery? Same lithium ion chemistry packaged into a more traditional and durable metal can.
Although if I wasn't too confident and wanted to avoid the fires of lithium ion I'd probably gone for NiMH too.
But then the decision to put both charger types on the board when only one will ever be used? Strange, but you can't let indecision paralysis get to you I guess.
As I understood, 18650 and 14500 don't like water too much. Our 3yo will find ways to spill water onto and into it.
As for the dip: I designed the board to be multi-purpose, including new projects down the line, where I might need LiPo energy density. I think I mentioned that in the blog post.
Pretty impressive work though! I think you must have learned a lot. I've spent quite some time on about 5 different projects that were way less polished, but it seems we have picked up the same level of skills along the way. The post is very recognizable ;) Looking forward to the your project!