Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
idea for method to plug battery pack in for charging. — Parallax Forums

idea for method to plug battery pack in for charging.

tedbeautedbeau Posts: 48
edited 2008-02-26 19:49 in BASIC Stamp
I am building a robot that will be powered by a 4 cell AA battery pack. Rather than having to remove the battery pack and remove the batterys for recharging, I would prefer to be able to plug a charger into the robot. Can anyone point me to a project like this. I have a standard 4 cell wall charger that I could wire a cable to. Would I just have to solder a lead to the negative and positive·leads and then plug that into an adapter on the robot?

Thanks

Ted

Comments

  • sam_sam_samsam_sam_sam Posts: 2,286
    edited 2008-02-25 22:14
    Ted

    Take a look at this

    This might work for you, here is the the link

    http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062132&cp=2032056.2818124.2818347&parentPage=family

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    ··Thanks for any·idea.gif·that you may have and all of your time finding them

    ·
    ·
    ·
    ·
    Sam
  • David H.David H. Posts: 78
    edited 2008-02-25 22:15
    Ted,
    What I plan to use on my boe-bot, is a recepticle like what's on the Board Of Education, and wire it so the power is shut off to the board when you plug the charger into it, and that would connect the power plug to the battery for charging. If you look at the schematics, they will point out which terminals will do what.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    David


    There are 10 types of people in this world,...
    Those that understand binary numbers, and those that don't!!!
  • DgswanerDgswaner Posts: 795
    edited 2008-02-25 22:31
    Although I haven't implemented it yet I was planning on using a 2 position center off switch. one direction would be Charge the other would turn the bot on.

    what you are suggesting about wire the battery pack to the charger should work, I'd keep the wires short, and in the effort of keeping you charger useful for other projects, how about building a "dummy" battery that will fit in the charger and make the connection to the bot. or add a Jack to the case of the charger which will connect to the terminal internally, allowing you to plug in a cable to charge your bot.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    "A complex design is the sign of an inferior designer." - Jamie Hyneman, Myth Buster

    DGSwaner
  • MSDTechMSDTech Posts: 342
    edited 2008-02-25 22:43
    Actually, the simplest way would be to get a "Smart Charger", like the one sold by Powerizer. It allows the use of several different types of plugs/sockets. You can attach a socket to it similar to the·socket on the BOE. Then to charge the batteries, just unplug the battery cable from the BOE and plug it into the charger.
  • tedbeautedbeau Posts: 48
    edited 2008-02-26 19:36
    I guess I wasn't specific enough with my original post. I don't even know if I should hook the positive (red) lead from the wall charger to the positive side of the connector coming out of the battery box. Is this how the batteries get charged?
    dgswaner, I like your idea of a three position switch. I may look into adding one now as I build. If I dont make the recharger, I can still use the center poition as OFF and one position as RUN.
  • allanlane5allanlane5 Posts: 3,815
    edited 2008-02-26 19:49
    Yes, batteries get charged by connecting the Red (Postive) lead to the "+" (Positive) lead of the battery. And the black lead to the "-" (Negative) lead of the battery.

    This assumes the batteries are no longer connected to the BOE-Bot, of course.· It probably wouldn't hurt the BOE-Bot to leave them connected, but it would confuse the charger.· The Charger wants to charge batteries, NOT "charge batteries AND run a BOE-Bot" at the same time.
    ·
Sign In or Register to comment.