Battery / Power Supply level monitor
Archiver
Posts: 46,084
Hello to all,
I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
thanks in advance
nagi
I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
thanks in advance
nagi
Comments
A problem with NiCad or NiMh cells is that they stay somewhere between 1.1
and 1.2 Volts for a long time during discharge. They then suddenly cut off
when they are empty.
This means that the voltage of a cell is not a very good parameter to
estimate the energy left in the cell.
I use an application that tries to estimate used energy in various states of
execution. It has different functions and each function has its specific
power consumption. The system registers the specific functions and the time
they are operated and then accumulates the power used. This works well in my
system but it is not very complex, probably much less complex than your
autonomous robet :-).
It is just an Idea but probably there are more and better Idea's on this
forum.
Regards,
Klaus
Original Message
From: "nagibabu2000" <nagibabu@c...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, July 05, 2004 8:55 PM
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
> Hello to all,
> I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
> want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
> robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
>
> Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
> will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
>
> Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
>
>
> thanks in advance
> nagi
>
>
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
track of how much you have used. You can either measure the power you use
and return after a certain threshhold has been reached or you can guess how
much power you have used by keeping track of how long the robot has been
performing certain types of functions.
There are some commercial products available that will do this for you
automatically, but the ones I am familiar with are generally used on large
banks of batteries like in marine applications or Electric Cars. The
Xantrax Link 10 is very poplular, but cost about $200. There may be some
chips available for smaller applications. All those laptops running around
are using something that does this.
damon
>From: "nagibabu2000" <nagibabu@c...>
>Reply-To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
>To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
>Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 18:55:57 -0000
>
>Hello to all,
>I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
>want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
>robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
>
>Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
>will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
>
>Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
>
>
>thanks in advance
>nagi
>
>
>
>
>To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page – FREE
download! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/
Thanks a lot
nagi
________________________________
From: Mike Sokol [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=PlouRT9ImORpVbsi9Siw5kxmCyCPBgI-1S_z0sua_XLB9GP0f58TUkbC_iLjWDXaizYL6GItgLaX-aiJO8e7U58]mike@f...[/url
Sent: Wed 7/7/2004 8:29 AM
To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
What about using an "intelligent" battery from a cell phone? Has anyone
hacked how they work yet? If they do indeed have internal electronics for
charging and level indication, it could be a solution.
Mike Sokol
mike@f...
Original Message
From: "damon henry" <damonhenry@h...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 3:53 PM
Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
> The best way to do this is to know what your power capacity is and keep
> track of how much you have used. You can either measure the power you use
> and return after a certain threshhold has been reached or you can guess
how
> much power you have used by keeping track of how long the robot has been
> performing certain types of functions.
>
> There are some commercial products available that will do this for you
> automatically, but the ones I am familiar with are generally used on large
> banks of batteries like in marine applications or Electric Cars. The
> Xantrax Link 10 is very poplular, but cost about $200. There may be some
> chips available for smaller applications. All those laptops running
around
> are using something that does this.
>
> damon
>
> >From: "nagibabu2000" <nagibabu@c...>
> >Reply-To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> >To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> >Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
> >Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 18:55:57 -0000
> >
> >Hello to all,
> >I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
> >want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
> >robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
> >
> >Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
> >will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
> >
> >Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
> >
> >
> >thanks in advance
> >nagi
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
> >Body of the message will be ignored.
> >
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page - FREE
> download! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/
>
>
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and Body of the message will be ignored.
Yahoo! Groups Links
[noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
hacked how they work yet? If they do indeed have internal electronics for
charging and level indication, it could be a solution.
Mike Sokol
mike@f...
Original Message
From: "damon henry" <damonhenry@h...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 3:53 PM
Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
> The best way to do this is to know what your power capacity is and keep
> track of how much you have used. You can either measure the power you use
> and return after a certain threshhold has been reached or you can guess
how
> much power you have used by keeping track of how long the robot has been
> performing certain types of functions.
>
> There are some commercial products available that will do this for you
> automatically, but the ones I am familiar with are generally used on large
> banks of batteries like in marine applications or Electric Cars. The
> Xantrax Link 10 is very poplular, but cost about $200. There may be some
> chips available for smaller applications. All those laptops running
around
> are using something that does this.
>
> damon
>
> >From: "nagibabu2000" <nagibabu@c...>
> >Reply-To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> >To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> >Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
> >Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 18:55:57 -0000
> >
> >Hello to all,
> >I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
> >want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
> >robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
> >
> >Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
> >will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
> >
> >Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
> >
> >
> >thanks in advance
> >nagi
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
> >Body of the message will be ignored.
> >
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page - FREE
> download! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/
>
>
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
and an light emiting led tied together with heat shrink. They may have been
IR based, I cannot recall. The theory was that you monitor the voltage
produced out of the light detector led. When it drops below a certain
voltage you know your batteries are going weak. The author simply placed
both led's facing each other inside black heat shrink. The emitter was
powered directly from the battery and read the output from the detector with
a stamp input.
-kerry
At 09:29 AM 7/7/04 -0400, you wrote:
>What about using an "intelligent" battery from a cell phone? Has anyone
>hacked how they work yet? If they do indeed have internal electronics for
>charging and level indication, it could be a solution.
>
>Mike Sokol
>mike@f...
>
>
Original Message
>From: "damon henry" <damonhenry@h...>
>To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 3:53 PM
>Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
>
>
>> The best way to do this is to know what your power capacity is and keep
>> track of how much you have used. You can either measure the power you use
>> and return after a certain threshhold has been reached or you can guess
>how
>> much power you have used by keeping track of how long the robot has been
>> performing certain types of functions.
>>
>> There are some commercial products available that will do this for you
>> automatically, but the ones I am familiar with are generally used on large
>> banks of batteries like in marine applications or Electric Cars. The
>> Xantrax Link 10 is very poplular, but cost about $200. There may be some
>> chips available for smaller applications. All those laptops running
>around
>> are using something that does this.
>>
>> damon
>>
>> >From: "nagibabu2000" <nagibabu@c...>
>> >Reply-To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
>> >To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
>> >Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
>> >Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 18:55:57 -0000
>> >
>> >Hello to all,
>> >I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
>> >want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
>> >robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
>> >
>> >Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
>> >will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
>> >
>> >Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
>> >
>> >
>> >thanks in advance
>> >nagi
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
>> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>> >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>> >Body of the message will be ignored.
>> >
>> >Yahoo! Groups Links
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page - FREE
>> download! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
>> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>Body of the message will be ignored.
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
Very respectfully, your obedient servant.
Brig. Gen. Johnston Pettigrew
Admin@M...
WWW server hosting [url=Http://mntnweb.com]Http://mntnweb.com[/url]
Kerry Barlow
p.o. box 21
kirkwood ny
13795
607-775-1575
http://www.arttec.net/Press/Battery/BatteryMonitor.pdf
thanks
nagi
________________________________
From: Kerry Barlow [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=Z7u41ET4b-WqUx7cINoPrcpVwP1U0rcu-usDApQEJXh0n4g6s3Gp3jQUFnXgM93AJiCcnRYcnLcN]admin@m...[/url
Sent: Wed 7/7/2004 8:54 AM
To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
There was an article in N&V a few years back. It used a light detector led
and an light emiting led tied together with heat shrink. They may have been
IR based, I cannot recall. The theory was that you monitor the voltage
produced out of the light detector led. When it drops below a certain
voltage you know your batteries are going weak. The author simply placed
both led's facing each other inside black heat shrink. The emitter was
powered directly from the battery and read the output from the detector with
a stamp input.
-kerry
At 09:29 AM 7/7/04 -0400, you wrote:
>What about using an "intelligent" battery from a cell phone? Has anyone
>hacked how they work yet? If they do indeed have internal electronics for
>charging and level indication, it could be a solution.
>
>Mike Sokol
>mike@f...
>
>
Original Message
>From: "damon henry" <damonhenry@h...>
>To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 3:53 PM
>Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
>
>
>> The best way to do this is to know what your power capacity is and keep
>> track of how much you have used. You can either measure the power you use
>> and return after a certain threshhold has been reached or you can guess
>how
>> much power you have used by keeping track of how long the robot has been
>> performing certain types of functions.
>>
>> There are some commercial products available that will do this for you
>> automatically, but the ones I am familiar with are generally used on large
>> banks of batteries like in marine applications or Electric Cars. The
>> Xantrax Link 10 is very poplular, but cost about $200. There may be some
>> chips available for smaller applications. All those laptops running
>around
>> are using something that does this.
>>
>> damon
>>
>> >From: "nagibabu2000" <nagibabu@c...>
>> >Reply-To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
>> >To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
>> >Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
>> >Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 18:55:57 -0000
>> >
>> >Hello to all,
>> >I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
>> >want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
>> >robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
>> >
>> >Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
>> >will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
>> >
>> >Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
>> >
>> >
>> >thanks in advance
>> >nagi
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
>> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>> >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>> >Body of the message will be ignored.
>> >
>> >Yahoo! Groups Links
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page - FREE
>> download! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
>> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>Body of the message will be ignored.
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
Very respectfully, your obedient servant.
Brig. Gen. Johnston Pettigrew
Admin@M...
WWW server hosting [url=Http://mntnweb.com]Http://mntnweb.com[/url]
Kerry Barlow
p.o. box 21
kirkwood ny
13795
607-775-1575
To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and Body of the message will be ignored.
Yahoo! Groups Links
[noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Battery maintenance (or something like that) and MUX I/O's.
Article 3 or 5 I think!
Original Message
From: "Kerry Barlow" <admin@m...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 9:54 AM
Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
> There was an article in N&V a few years back. It used a light detector led
> and an light emiting led tied together with heat shrink. They may have
been
> IR based, I cannot recall. The theory was that you monitor the voltage
> produced out of the light detector led. When it drops below a certain
> voltage you know your batteries are going weak. The author simply placed
> both led's facing each other inside black heat shrink. The emitter was
> powered directly from the battery and read the output from the detector
with
> a stamp input.
> -kerry
>
>
> At 09:29 AM 7/7/04 -0400, you wrote:
> >What about using an "intelligent" battery from a cell phone? Has anyone
> >hacked how they work yet? If they do indeed have internal electronics for
> >charging and level indication, it could be a solution.
> >
> >Mike Sokol
> >mike@f...
> >
> >
Original Message
> >From: "damon henry" <damonhenry@h...>
> >To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
> >Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 3:53 PM
> >Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
> >
> >
> >> The best way to do this is to know what your power capacity is and keep
> >> track of how much you have used. You can either measure the power you
use
> >> and return after a certain threshhold has been reached or you can guess
> >how
> >> much power you have used by keeping track of how long the robot has
been
> >> performing certain types of functions.
> >>
> >> There are some commercial products available that will do this for you
> >> automatically, but the ones I am familiar with are generally used on
large
> >> banks of batteries like in marine applications or Electric Cars. The
> >> Xantrax Link 10 is very poplular, but cost about $200. There may be
some
> >> chips available for smaller applications. All those laptops running
> >around
> >> are using something that does this.
> >>
> >> damon
> >>
> >> >From: "nagibabu2000" <nagibabu@c...>
> >> >Reply-To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> >> >To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> >> >Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Battery / Power Supply level monitor
> >> >Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 18:55:57 -0000
> >> >
> >> >Hello to all,
> >> >I'm building an autonomous Robot using BS2 and one of the modules I
> >> >want to build is a battery/power supply monitoring system so the
> >> >robot can return to the charging station when the power goes low.
> >> >
> >> >Can someone shed some light on this question. Any circuits, pointers
> >> >will be very helpful. I'm new to electronics BTW.
> >> >
> >> >Also, if you have ideas for charging, that will be great!!
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >thanks in advance
> >> >nagi
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> >> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >> >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject
and
> >> >Body of the message will be ignored.
> >> >
> >> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >> _________________________________________________________________
> >> MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page -
FREE
> >> download! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> >> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject
and
> >Body of the message will be ignored.
> >>
> >> Yahoo! Groups Links
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
> Body of the message will be ignored.
> >
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> Very respectfully, your obedient servant.
> Brig. Gen. Johnston Pettigrew
>
> Admin@M...
> WWW server hosting [url=Http://mntnweb.com]Http://mntnweb.com[/url]
> Kerry Barlow
> p.o. box 21
> kirkwood ny
> 13795
> 607-775-1575
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>