Now, without juice, how will the robot move? ;) Here is a page dedicated to research to find the most suitable type of batteries to use to power up our Bot.
Types of batteries
- Can be recharged a lot of times
- Low internal resistance
- High current supply
- Lightweight
- Need to be recharged by a special recharger
- Can get quite hot
- Charge does not hold well (need to be recharged often if left idle).
- Low amp hour compared to Lead Acid batteries.
Motor power supplyThe motors will definitely require the greatest amount of power, thus we should dedicate them with seperate power supplies from the rest of the bot.
Subsystems power supplyThe system board (which includes the processing and basic sensors) will consume a lot of power, but still less than the motors. Regardless, a suitable and reliable power supply is needed. Other modules will also be connected to this supply.
Voltage RegulationA suitable voltage regulation method is also needed to insure safety of the electronics. Using Switching Voltage Regulation may prove to be useful (can be up to 90% efficient).
Battery MonitorIt is quite easy to design a monitor to see the power level of the batteries.
This can be placed in the motor module and connected to the system board so it'll know if it'll run out of "fuel". Knowing this, the robot can automatically adjusts its speed and gauge whether it can reach a certain target or destination. It can also transmit the data to the host computer as well.
Knowing the power level of the system board itself will allow it to be placed on power saving mode or standby when not in use.
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