Asked
— Edited
Comments made by my parents suggest i'm getting a rad for my birthday june 14(celebrating sooner)
So I want to have a plan in place for what ill need to make the rad.
Diagram of possible rad
Comments made by my parents suggest i'm getting a rad for my birthday june 14(celebrating sooner)
So I want to have a plan in place for what ill need to make the rad.
Diagram of possible rad
Camera as nose in the head
Im thinking ill extend the neck to add pan and tilt abilities.
So what i'm thinking is:
Head- 2 normal/ 2 micro servos(micro or normal?), camera
Arms- 2 normal/2 micro servos(Micro or normal?)
What should I do with the gun? How could I control it?
And should I add micro servos to the shoulders to make it possible for it to grab things?
Dylan.
However, one thing you need to be aware of is that LiPo batteries do not like undervoltage, i.e. if it drops below 3v per cell the battery wont charge again. It's a good idea to add in a LiPo monitor circuit & script and possibly an auto cutoff.
Charging needs safety but follow the instructions and it's safe, I charge mine unattended because I'm that confident - so confident I risk £135,000 (~$205,000) of house. I do use a fire proof charging bag mind you, I'm not that stupid
Go with LiPo, I cannot recommend them enough.
If you use the script and circuit I did the tutorial for you will know when you need to charge, throw in the auto disconnect circuit (I haven't tested it yet but the theory should work and I have seen similar circuits on other forums) and you're safe. Use a decent charger with safety cut offs (most chargers unless you buy very cheap from dodgy places) and charging is safe, I didn't used to use the charging bag, I only use it now because it come free when I bought my last 2 LiPos. It's now part of Melvin so it's no extra hassle.
FYI, short out a NiMh battery, +ve to -ve with no load and tell me they are safe
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190495
I have read of people using them in planes and running them down to 3.1 volts but then they only get around 30 to 40 cycles of life through them which to me sure feels like a significant impact on the longevity of a lipo.
@rich it doesn't sound like you have been through more than a cycle or two , just adjust it for 3.7 volts in the future and you will max the possible future life out of them. Happy batteries lol
Just checked it on google and a bunch of RC forums and 2.7v is the absolute minimum, most claim 3v so even the cheaper LiPos don't undervolt. Retail protection circuits hard cut off at 3.0v and soft cut off at 3.3v. Everything I found suggests a low level cut off at 3.3-3.4v
Where did you get the 3.7v from since everything I just read (and remember reading when I was making the LiPo monitor script) seems to say otherwise (3.3v to give that wriggle room before damaging the cells).
In case it's not apparent, I'm not arguing it
It's a very cheap and simple circuit, one cell connects directly to one ADC port the other goes through a voltage divider (3 resistors), with a diode for over voltage protection on the ADC port (optional, but recommended). Then a script runs and checks the voltage every x ms, the discharge rate isn't too bad so every 500ms or even 1s would be fine. If it's getting low it tells you, it can shut down things or even disconnect the EZ-B from the PC. It doesn't shut off the battery though so you will need to disconnect or charge it relatively quickly depending on min voltage level set.
Or, you can get balance port monitors that plug in to the balance port, report the voltage and buzz when low. They are cheap and stand alone, but don't shut the battery off.
Or try the auto shutoff circuit I posted, but I haven't had chance to test it yet. This one will shut off power to everything on low voltage but does draw current itself so eventually will undervolt the battery (would take a fair amount of time, like hours or maybe even days).
Melvin uses the monitor circuit and reports the voltage on the LCD in a similar way to the battery icon on a phone. The only time I undervolted a battery was when I forgot to disconnect it and didn't touch it for weeks.
@Rich, I use to be into rc cars and planes. I've always stayed with the 3.7 volt rating from the factories but lots of individual hobbiest like to push the equipment as far as they can before something noticeably bad happens. 3.7 is what I have stayed with and worked very well to maximize battery life. I use to work for horizon hobbies and we tested all kinds of stuff , even melted just about every lipo bag too. To be safe I would have the script stop at 3.7 volt. Thats my suggestion. I realize that others claim various voltages but for me its safe over sorry lol.
Edit: Just checked, it's set at 3.7v for low and 3.5v critical anyway which should be OK depending on the current draw of the robot and circumstance.
I would love to use lipo batteries but I just dont have the patience and/or understanding to work with them.
@jstarne, Ni-mh batteries you can drain completely, and charge from anywhere in its power level.
On another note, what is the next best battery?
A good second choice would be Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries.
Here are the Final plans for the rad.