Hey Guys,
I'm pondering how to power a fairly demanding robot. I've seen a couple of options such as the Arduino Mega backpack and also 'Sparkfun' Lithium collection.
Does anyone have any thoughts? I'd like to try and keep the price down where possible.
Cheers,
Miles
A lot depends on how much total current your robot will require, how long a run you need, and the room you have for battery space. Li-po batteries certainly have the best energy density but at a price premium and much more care has to be taken in battery protection from over charging and over discharging conditions.
The more simple lead acid gell cell 6vdc or 12vdc batteries are more easy and safe to work with and are more affordable.
Lefty
You might cordless power tool batteries. Lots of bang for the buck!
Power tool batteries, that's not a bad idea. Designed for extreme power draw and tend to last quite a while.
How would you go about harnessing the power. They usually have rather odd connectors?
I'd go wth NiMHs.
Unless you're cheap and size/weight don't matter, then a lead-acid! Car batteries are awesome value.
Motor cycle batteries are smaller than car batts. but cost about the same.
Can someone clarify something for me. I am looking at some li-ion or lifepo4 batteries. These batteries are around 3.3-3.7 volts. The hardware page for the arduino says minimum imput voltage is 6? But I see it can be powered off USB. I am a little confused on what the minimum power requirements are.
arduino says minimum imput voltage is 6?
That is powering from the Vin connection. The Arduino itself takes 5V but Vin goes through a voltage regulator, you need a bit bigger than the voltage you want out going into a regulator for it to work correctly.
So something like this in series would make 6.4 volts and with that mah probably last many hours, correct?
You can use a module like this:-
To get the 5V you need efficiently straight from a battery.
Li-po batteries are 3.7v but can be hooked in series or in parallel for more power, for example if you have a 3-cell battery you will have 11.1v. You can get li-pos for pretty cheap now a days although charging them is more tricky than a regular batter but the benefits are huge with their light weight and high amp draw.