BOEBOT mods and questions
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I received my Boebot a few days ago, and I am loving it! There were a
few annoying problems during assembly, (that damned battery holder!),
but they were minor.
After a day or two, I grew tired of the need to unplug the batteries
every time I wanted to turn off the bot. (Hey Parallax guys, what were
you thinking?! Do you turn off all of your appliances by pulling the
plug every time?) Anyway, I bought a "micro-mini" toggle switch at
Radio Shack, removed the battery connector, and wired the switch between
the battery pack and the 6-volt PCB line. Works like a charm.
I do have a couple of questions:
1. The manual clearly says that you cannot use 1.2 volt rechargable
batteries in the robot. I have some AA NiMH batteries which clearly
state that they put out 1.2 volts. Yet when I measure the voltages, the
batteries are putting out 1.5 volts! They work just fine in the robot.
Am I going to get into trouble by using these rechargables? Will their
voltage drop quickly? How about if I add a fifth battery to the power
supply?
2. The Parallax web site has quite a lot of information about Stamps in
general, but I wonder if there is a mailing list specifically for the
Boebot. I would love to exchange ideas with other people who have
modified or enhanced their robots. Among other things, I would like to
see more details about that super-enhanced Boebot with camera, etc.,
which is shown on the Parallax site!
Good job, Parallax guys!
-Marmot
few annoying problems during assembly, (that damned battery holder!),
but they were minor.
After a day or two, I grew tired of the need to unplug the batteries
every time I wanted to turn off the bot. (Hey Parallax guys, what were
you thinking?! Do you turn off all of your appliances by pulling the
plug every time?) Anyway, I bought a "micro-mini" toggle switch at
Radio Shack, removed the battery connector, and wired the switch between
the battery pack and the 6-volt PCB line. Works like a charm.
I do have a couple of questions:
1. The manual clearly says that you cannot use 1.2 volt rechargable
batteries in the robot. I have some AA NiMH batteries which clearly
state that they put out 1.2 volts. Yet when I measure the voltages, the
batteries are putting out 1.5 volts! They work just fine in the robot.
Am I going to get into trouble by using these rechargables? Will their
voltage drop quickly? How about if I add a fifth battery to the power
supply?
2. The Parallax web site has quite a lot of information about Stamps in
general, but I wonder if there is a mailing list specifically for the
Boebot. I would love to exchange ideas with other people who have
modified or enhanced their robots. Among other things, I would like to
see more details about that super-enhanced Boebot with camera, etc.,
which is shown on the Parallax site!
Good job, Parallax guys!
-Marmot
Comments
hinted at doing it on a redesigned BoE board sometime in the future. One
position turns on the Stamp, the other the Stamp and servos.
As far as the batteries, the voltage regulator used on the board requires a
minimum voltage greater than 5 volts to work. If the batteries put out more
than that, all is well. If the batteries get low, everything starts acting
weird or shuts down. Typically what happens is the Stamp runs fine until you
try to move a servo, then it resets. A good reason to include hello world
code to flash an LED or beep at powerup.
At any rate, you will find that the rechargeable batteries will most likely
work, but not as long as regular Alkaline batteries.
Original Message
> I received my Boebot a few days ago, and I am loving it! There were a
> few annoying problems during assembly, (that damned battery holder!),
> but they were minor.
>
> After a day or two, I grew tired of the need to unplug the batteries
> every time I wanted to turn off the bot. (Hey Parallax guys, what were
> you thinking?! Do you turn off all of your appliances by pulling the
> plug every time?) Anyway, I bought a "micro-mini" toggle switch at
> Radio Shack, removed the battery connector, and wired the switch between
> the battery pack and the 6-volt PCB line. Works like a charm.
>
> I do have a couple of questions:
>
> 1. The manual clearly says that you cannot use 1.2 volt rechargable
> batteries in the robot. I have some AA NiMH batteries which clearly
> state that they put out 1.2 volts. Yet when I measure the voltages, the
> batteries are putting out 1.5 volts! They work just fine in the robot.
> Am I going to get into trouble by using these rechargables? Will their
> voltage drop quickly? How about if I add a fifth battery to the power
> supply?
>
> 2. The Parallax web site has quite a lot of information about Stamps in
> general, but I wonder if there is a mailing list specifically for the
> Boebot. I would love to exchange ideas with other people who have
> modified or enhanced their robots. Among other things, I would like to
> see more details about that super-enhanced Boebot with camera, etc.,
> which is shown on the Parallax site!
actually make a better supply than 4 alkaline cells. You just need to
find a place for the fifth cell.
I rather seriously modified my BoE-Bot. First as a wheeled robot then
I turned the BoE into a walker with parts from a home center.
If you would like to read more about robot power supplies see the
beginner pages of my website. If you want to see the modified BoE-Bot
and walker, see the pages referred to under "Just need a Co-
Processor" on the home page.
Harry
Stamp Robotics to the next level
www.bluebelldesign.com
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, Marmot <kowal@c...> wrote:
<snip>> I do have a couple of questions:
>
> 1. The manual clearly says that you cannot use 1.2 volt
rechargable
> batteries in the robot. I have some AA NiMH batteries which
clearly
> state that they put out 1.2 volts. Yet when I measure the
voltages, the
> batteries are putting out 1.5 volts! They work just fine in the
robot.
> Am I going to get into trouble by using these rechargables? Will
their
> voltage drop quickly? How about if I add a fifth battery to the
power
> supply?
>
> 2. The Parallax web site has quite a lot of information about
Stamps in
> general, but I wonder if there is a mailing list specifically for
the
> Boebot. I would love to exchange ideas with other people who have
> modified or enhanced their robots. Among other things, I would
like to
> see more details about that super-enhanced Boebot with camera,
etc.,
> which is shown on the Parallax site!
>
> Good job, Parallax guys!
>
> -Marmot