USA
Asked — Edited

V4 - My Batteries Are Low, My Batteries Are Low

Skip to comments   Jump to end

After whole weekend of working with the new V4 EZB I've been able to get two installed and working over my home network. It was a learning experience and had it's challenges but more on all that in another post, another time.

What I'd like to say here is this;

I'm powering the EZB with a power converter from wall voltage. I don't use batteries so I have a continuous power feed and can supply almost any voltage needed within EZB's power range of operation.

The data sheet for V4 says the voltage for the V4 is between 4.5 & 16vdc. This may be true but if the voltage gets below somewhere between 6 & 7 vdc the board will stop responding and I get a irritating voice loop saying ""My batteries are low, My batteries are low".......... This goes on and on till the voltage is raised and the board is power cycled.

So the bottom line is you cannot power EZB V4 with anything lower then 7vdc or it just stops and nags you for more power. Sounds like my 3rd wife, :P

This also means we cant power the V4 with less then 7 volts and get a lower output voltage on the digital I/O pins. We for sure need voltage regulators for devices needing lower voltages.

Jump to end

ARC Pro

Upgrade to ARC Pro

Don't limit your robot's potential – subscribe to ARC Pro and transform it into a dynamic, intelligent machine.

#9  

Thank you Richard. Okay, I was able to find where to adjust the low voltage setting. And yes, under load the battery voltage was dropping to below 6.4 volts. So, that clears that up.

PRO
Synthiam
#10  

If you're drawing more current than the ezb v4 can handle, it may also complain about the low battery voltage. At that point, I recommend an alternative power supply or alternative power wires.

#11  

Is there a way to get an MP3 file to play at a specified battery level? I've got a file for K-9 where he says "power supply failing":).

PRO
Synthiam
#12  

lol, that would be really neat - there is no way to replace the audio file. However, you can disable the battery saver and write your own code instead.

Keep in mind that with my example below, you lose the battery saving features of the EZ-B v4. If you drain your LiPo battery too far, it will be damaged.

Something like...


$minBatteryVoltage = 6.6

:loop

  if (GetVoltage() < $minBatteryVoltage)

    # Put your audio file soundboard trigger here with controlCommand
    SayEZB("My power supply is failing")
    
  endif

  # pause for 30 seconds between battery checks
  sleep(30000)

goto(loop)
United Kingdom
#13  

I wrote a lipo monitor script a while ago which had 3 voltage levels which could be adapted from checking the ADC ports to checking the variable.

Check my started topics, it's in there somewhere.

#14  

Thanks!

Is there a way to play an mp3 kept on an iphone?

I'm guessing that the Soundboard command will only play files that are on the PC and you'd have to use an MP3 trigger board if you wanted to store the sound filies on the robot itself.

Frank

#15  

One more question-- if I have to use the MP3 trigger, is there an easy way to get the eye LEDs to blink with the voice? I presume the soundservo method of doing this would also force you to be tied to a PC. I do have a hardware work around (I found a tiny board that uses its microphone to blink an LED, if necessary.

Frank

#16  

Lol. i open my ezb to see if there was battery inside.

Login to post a comment