Mjv4721
Resolved by Rich!
Hi peeps,
I'm new to the Ez-Robot community. I recently put in an order for the JD Revolution bot, excited about its arrival, even though it's in stage 2
I've been reading up about LiPo batteries and I am now sufficiently perplexed by the numerous complications surrounding all things LiPo...
From what I know, the JD kit includes a 1300mAh 7.4VDC LiPo battery (charger incl), but to better my understanding of what this means (pardon my ignorance if I ask stupid questions, but I am still new to a few of these things) this would mean that:
7.4 volt battery = 2 cells x 3.7 volts (2S)
Essentially, the battery pack is a 2-series LiPo battery pack. Subsequently at 100% charge, this battery pack would output roughly 8.4V?
From what I've read, LiPo batteries don't like being discharged past 80% of their capacity for numerous reasons, so I have the following question:
I'm assuming the EZ-B v4 does not cater for LiPo batteries going below 80% of their capacity as the the use of battery is not known upfront and for a number of other reasons. (also assuming this can be done easily as an extension by the end-user).
What's the best way to measure the voltage coming from the battery with regards to the EZ-B? For instance, the voltage reading detected by the EZ-B is 7.6, call an algorithm to move to the charging station or move to a safe zone and shutdown so as to limit the damage to the batteries?
I just need a basic idea of what needs to be done, I'll try and figure out the details as that's the fun part of the project
Just to give some context as to my experience level - I've been programming in C/C++/C#/Java for about 10 - 12 year now, but my experience with electronics is minimal. I know the bare minimum.
Thanks in advance!
Kind regards, Marius
@dj sures said " I can make an EZ-Script launch when it occurs if you'd like?" -- Yes please! In fact, events at different levels would be better so on moderately low we can attempt a return to charging station, and at very low we can initiate a graceful shutdown or other tasks (or just make the voltage a script variable might be more flexible).
So many uses. return to charging station, graceful shut-down of embedded computer, send an alert (email/twitter, etc...).
Alan
@DJ, I'm with Alan on this one. Although I'm probably capable of using the SDK (c# and I are no strangers) I've not needed it so, having anything extra you want to throw in to the ARC "home game" would be cool. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
TBH I've really been exploring more of the physical engineering. I'm kind of weak there I feel. I've built a few bots but none of them have lasted long enough to really explore all that the EZ has to offer.
I like using the keyboard control for movement and have made a few scripts for a pan and tilt keyboard control. One with standard servos and recently, for my Roli, one that uses modified servos. I had them and didn't want them to go unused. Since I want to pan and tilt at a slower pace anyway using them doesn't seem to be an issue. And I had the ping sensor working on Fifah. But that's been about it.
There are two others I had design issues and put on the burner. Roli is replacing one of them so, having Roli to build off of is very exciting for me and any goodies you want to throw into the software are just more toys to play with. Very excited to hear about the new EZ Bit gyro and others showing up in the store soon. I can't afford to buy anything right now but, I like window shopping.
Sorry to rant but I'm getting excited now.