Hello. I am looking for a battery solution to power my Mega 2560, L298N, and 2x 9V DC motors. I need about 11-12v due to the voltage drop by the L298N. At first, I was looking at buying some 18650 cells and 3S Series battery holder on Amazon, but I am a bit worried since I cannot find any battery holders that support button top 18650 protected cells. My next thought was to buy a LiPO RC car battery, but I was hoping to find something a bit smaller. Any ideas? Would it be fine to use unprotected 18650 cells and connect them directly to the Arduino if I manually monitor the voltage for over-discharge? I plan on buying a proper charger if I decide to go this route.
The ancient, inefficient L298 wastes an incredible amount of battery energy as heat.
So, your first and best move is to replace that dinosaur with a modern, switching motor driver. Pololu has the best selection. The improved robot will require less battery capacity.
1 Like
+1 for Pololu DC motor drivers.
I use the battery from my cheap 12V cordless drill to power my little robot. It has all of the protections built in. I made a slide mount with my 3D printer that mimics the mount on the drill. And I can charge the battery with the supplied charger.
I cannot size it until I know the load and time requirement of the battery. I could oversize it and it will last longer but I could undersize it and you would not be happy. Post the electrical requirements and links to technical information on the hadare devices.
I am using DG01D-E motors with encoders. Each motor draws about 150-160mA at full power. Stall current is 260mA per motor at 9V. I'm looking for 1-2 hours of battery. I will eventually add a Bosch IMU (BNO055) which draws an average of 3.5mA.
How about links and the rest of the hardware, the Mega uses power also.
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.