solar charging of Ni-Cads

Archiver

I am building a bot and would like to add a solar panel to charge the
batteries. I would like to have a somewhat intelligent charge system, i.e.
know when the batteries are fully charged, and when they need to be charged.
I suppose I could have a PIC check the voltage via an A/D, but an
independant system would be best. Basically the bot would park itself in a
bright spot, shut off all un-neccesary components, and charge the battery
until it is full, or until the bright spot has moved. A system that could
charge the batteries while the bot is running would be great. A circuit
that could set the battery charge rate depending on the illumination of the
solar panel would also be nice. In the end I just want something that will
work, and won't overcharge the battery. I want to use a set of 4 or 5
1700Mah nicads. can anyone give me some info, and perhaps a schematic, but
nothing too complicated.
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