Saturday, July 19, 2008

Figuring out where to place batteries

Where oh where to put batteries in this thing!

The 2-3-2 system really robs me of valuable space. As tempted as I am to remove it, I am also trying to improve it to make it worth keeping in the droid!

The slide blocks that the entire system goes up and down on has 2 bolt heads that come pretty close to where one would like to mount a battery...(see pic).


Now I would use those side batteries for the 24 volt system. Users of that system are the 2-3-2 system and the shoulder motors. That's it. Alternatively, I think I have some room on the bottom front part of the frame to work with. There I would place two 12 volt 7amp batteries that would power the electronics. Dome lights, motor controllers, the whole bit.


Now the real brain teaser.

How do you power two very high amperage NPC 2212 motors that would LIKE 12 volts and 28 amps? A battery of that size is 6 inches wide. There is no room to accomodate anything 6 inches wide.

So, while carefully keeping in mind the room the center foot takes while inside the body, I started measuring. I went to the local Batteries Plus and found they have Powersonic 12volt 18amh batteries. They are 3 inches wide, but tall. Two COULD fit (see below) in the rear part of the body. However it would put a real punch of a electronics panel in the back. I would have to create a rather short electronics panel. However, I could try to create one that uses both sides of the board (alu plate to G10). Furthermore, many builders have opted to mount more of their electronics inside the dome. Since I am extremely limited in space, I may have to!



So much to think about...every part of this little droid has been complicated!

I still need to figure out how to create some locking mechanisms that would lock the leg into position. Something that would "pin" the leg in, maybe a pin mounted on an actuator, so that the shoulder motors could "release" the load onto those devices.

Bah...too much to figure out for now ;-)

3 comments:

  1. I give you credit for doing the 2-3-2 droid. It looks very complicated ... especially trying to shoehorn electronics in areas with the 2-3-2 mechanisms. But it will look cool when finished.

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  2. so cool. looks like you're still having a lot of fun :)

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  3. Wow! This is so awesome! My son has an R2-D2 robot that we bought him for Christmas. When I show him your blog, he's going to freak!So so cool!

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