I have a pitching machine I'm planning to hack to allow controlling the unit with arduino and bluetooth. The motor is 110V and 1/4 hp (plus a ball feed but that won't draw much power relative to the motor.) I'd like to run the unit off a battery pack as I won't be able to always find power where I plan to use it. I'm trying to get the specs on the motor but that could take a bit. From rule-of-thumb data online it looks like the motor would pull 6 amps and a surge load of 1150 watts.
Question: Any suggestions on what to use as a battery pack and inverter? I'd love for the unit to run for 3 hours or so if possible. I'd like to oversize the battery/inverter a bit to allow for possible future expansion (stepper motors to control swing, height, and pitching speed.)
The simplest, most cost effective solution will most likely be a deep cycle 12 volt automotive battery and a mass market 1.5 or 2kw inverter. Power the Arduino from a separate, much smaller battery.
avr_fred:
The simplest, most cost effective solution will most likely be a deep cycle 12 volt automotive battery and a mass market 1.5 or 2kw inverter. Power the Arduino from a separate, much smaller battery.
TomGeorge:
Hi,
So you have a speed control unit for the motor which you will be controlled by the Arduino.
Does the control unit have a make/model number?
Tom...
For now I'm planning on manually setting the speed control but I'd like to hack that at a later date. For now, I just want to use BLE to turn the launch motor on/off followed by the ball feed on/off. My dream would be to eventually control the ball speed plus the ball direction (this is a pitching machine used for pickleballs, not baseballs, not that it matters.) I'm trying to get more info on the motor and such from the manufacturer but that could take some time.
I want to use an Arduino Uno, Bluefruit BLE Shield, and Particle Photon Relay Shield (partly because I have all these components in my stash.) Couldn't I just power the electronics through the same inverter I use for the launch motor using wall-warts and an inverter like:
The reason I asked about the controller, is it will tell us something about the load.
Yes BLE to Arduino to relay to turn controller ON and OFF will work.
With 5V power supply running of same 110V supply is okay to.
The inverter rating and hence the battery requirements all balance on the load information.
I will have to wait back from the manufacturer to see if they will provide any info. Short of that I'll see if I can open things up and have a look. Will an Arduino and related electronics operate with a modified sine wave inverter or will it require a pure sine wave inverter?
Hi,
If the motor is AC then its controller will prefer sinewave, modified will not be happy with an inductive load, or if the controller is a classic variable speed drive that chops the rectified AC to DC.
Play it safe sinewave, also your electronics will function as expected, with modified type output it is extremely noisy due to it being a 50 or 60Hz square-wave with PWM modulation.
Tom...
PS. If the manufacturer's guys are worth their salt they will try and sell you their battery version that they have.
Thanks for all the help. I'll see what the manufacturer provides before proceeding. I just sent an email to them last night so I should give them some time to respond. Buying their battery powered version isn't in the cards since this particular manufacturer doesn't make one. I bought the unit I have for a song. The alternative is to go out and buy a competing, battery powered model but it's big $.
he Heater pickleball pitching machine from Heater Sports provides a high quality pitching machine at an affordable price. The powerful 1/4 horsepower motor shoots pickleballs at variable speeds up to 60 miles per hour. The Heater also includes an automatic ball feeder that holds 12 pickleballs. Take ball practice without the need for another player. And with a simple tilt adjustment you can also make hits on long lob shots or short chop shots. Plug the Heater into any standard wall outlet or third party battery packs may be available for convenience. You may also consider the optional Spring Away Auto Fold Pop Up Net to catch all your paddled hits.
silverminer:
Question: Any suggestions on what to use as a battery pack and inverter?
Walk into your local yachting/RVing/camping shop and see what they suggest. Probably something based on a beefy car battery. There are lots of commercially available options for this.
I'd like to oversize the battery/inverter a bit to allow for possible future expansion (stepper motors to control swing, height, and pitching speed.)
Assuming you want to control those from the Arduino, count on DC for them.
You have the battery already, so you have 12V (or 24V maybe - depending on what you obtained in the step above) DC available - perfect for such stepper motors and also (use a buck converter to step down the voltage) to power your Arduino, controls display, etc.
TomGeorge:
Hi,
From your link to the product.Tom..... :o
Yes, that link is what initiated my question. I've tried to contact the manufacturer several times to see what "third party battery pack" they recommend. They know the details about their equipment so they seem to be the logical ones to contact.
wvmarle:
Walk into your local yachting/RVing/camping shop and see what they suggest.
Not a bad idea although I'm skeptical when it comes to sales people at yachting/RVing/camping stores. Plus, I feel like many of the people on this forum would have better suggestions based on my use case. As soon as I mention "Arduino" to the camper salesman I suspect I'll get a blank stare.
The one useful piece of info I did get back from the manufacturer was that the motor will draw 13 amp at startup and 2.4 amp while running. Unfortunately the 13 amp kills my Particle Relay Shield idea, at least as it pertains to controlling the motor (no big deal as I can start that up while I'm at the machine - I just want to control the ball feed while I'm across the court.)
If I'm understanding things correctly, a 300W pure sine-wave inverter coupled to a single 12V, 8Ah battery should give me a couple hours run time. I can buy a pair of 8Ah batteries for under $30. An inverter, unfortunately, costs around $110 (assuming this one works: Power Bright APS300U-12 Pure Sine Power Inverter 300 Watt continuous / 500 watt Peak 12 Volt DC To 120 Volt AC w/ USB Charging Port)
If anyone can check my thoughts on this I would greatly appreciate it.
300W at 12V = 25A (not counting losses in the conversion) so you may get about 15 minutes out of a single 8 Ah battery. That is assuming such small batteries can produce this much current and that you can discharge it that much, most batteries can be discharged only partially before you kill them. How much that is, depends on the battery type.
You'll have to be looking at 120-160 Ah or even bigger batteries. Those should give you a couple hours. Maybe go for truck batteries, though those may be 24V. Oh, and remember to buy a trolley with it. A typical 120 Ah lead-acid battery weighs around 40 kg.
Li-Ion type or whatever Tesla uses is much lighter in weight for the same capacity but they also cost a lot more (it's not just because that those heavy lead/acid batteries are used so much!).
wvmarle:
300W at 12V = 25A (not counting losses in the conversion) so you may get about 15 minutes out of a single 8 Ah battery.
Oops. That stinks. I was thinking I might be okay because a competing machine (although not necessarily an apples to apples comparison) runs for 3+ hours on twin 7Ah batteries. If I have to size up to truck batteries I'm better off running it on AC power (where available) or bring a gas powered inverter along for the ride. Cost wise I'd be better off buying the competing model that weighs less than 30 lb (14 kg.) But I own this one and I have only $100 or so into it - much better than $1,000 - so I was hoping to make it work. Thanks for the sanity check.
Maybe that battery powered model is indeed using the lightweight battery types.
It makes it more portable but adds a lot to the cost.
By the way, that'd be a gas powered generator (a device that produces electricity, usually AC, usually together with a lot of noise), rather than an inverter (a device that converts DC into AC, and which normally does this silently).
wvmarle:
By the way, that'd be a gas powered generator (a device that produces electricity, usually AC, usually together with a lot of noise), rather than an inverter (a device that converts DC into AC, and which normally does this silently).
Sorry, what I was referring to was something like a Honda Generator Inverter. Much quieter than the old school generators but still not without noise.
The manufacturer got back with me and suggests I get a 72 Ah battery and 750 W inverter. With that I think I'm ready to proceed. I'll probably power the Arduino and other control electronics with battery so I don't have to worry about a pure sine-wave inverter.
silverminer:
The manufacturer got back with me and suggests I get a 72 Ah battery and 750 W inverter. With that I think I'm ready to proceed. I'll probably power the Arduino and other control electronics with battery so I don't have to worry about a pure sine-wave inverter.
Thanks again for the assistance.
Did he say a modified sine inverter would be okay, because these days inverter is assumed to mean a sinewave output inverter.
In fact some "sales" engineers do not know what a modified sinewave inverter is!!!!!!
Tom....
TomGeorge:
Did he say a modified sine inverter would be okay, because these days inverter is assumed to mean a sinewave output inverter.
In fact some "sales" engineers do not know what a modified sinewave inverter is!!!!!!
Tom....
He didn't say. But I'm also confused. I thought most inverters were "modified sine wave" and then there were "pure sine wave" inverters. I see there is a pretty significant price difference although I'm tempted to go with the pure. I think it might be safer to go with the pure since my Particle Relay Shield requires a DC adapter and I'm afraid I'll end up having issues related to the power supply.
