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---+ Battery Booster Pack for Mobile Robots P3-AT

---++ Intro

This project started as a way to support the need for more power longevity during testing and as a way to utilize batteries several sizes too large that were accidently ordered.  
The batteries used for this pack were three 12V 12AH Lead Acid Casil Batteries about 4” by 6”. While these batteries were several inches too large to fit in to the robot itself, the voltage and current were compatible enough that they could easily be added in parallel to the standard batteries used.

<img alt="IMG_8968.JPG" height="207" src="%ATTACHURL%/IMG_8968.JPG" title="IMG_8968.JPG" width="290" />

---++ The Mount

In order for the batteries to be easily added to the bot without interfering with functionality or taking up the valuable real estate the top of the bot offers, a mount had to be constructed.
For this mount we decided to use angle iron as the main material and nuts and bolts as the fasteners. These materials were chosen because of the ease with which they can be used for construction and the strength they'll provide in the face of the somewhat weighty batteries.
The dimensions of the base are: 13.5" wide x 9.25" long x 5.5" tall.
The battery rails are 7.25” long and 4”apart with a flat bar attached underneath the rails for extra support.

<img alt="Battery_Mount.jpg" height="269" src="%ATTACHURL%/Battery_Mount.jpg" title="Battery_Mount.jpg" width="202" />

---++ The Wiring

   <img alt="IMG_8366.JPG" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/IMG_8366.JPG" title="IMG_8366.JPG" width="250" />  <img alt="IMG_5181.JPG" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/IMG_5181.JPG" title="IMG_5181.JPG" width="250" />

For the wiring we used two strands of size 8 electrical wire twisted together and soldered to bared female spade connectors, wrapped in electrical tape. Each section of wire was connected by wire nuts.

The connector we used between the batteries and the bot itself was a standard RV connector.

<img alt="IMG-20120628-00041.jpg" height="269" src="%ATTACHURLPATH%/RV_Connector_Used.jpg" width="200" />

We cut the wires of the RV connector in the middle and connected the wires on the male end to the loose ends of the batteries’ wires with powerpole stackable connectors.

<img alt="PowerPole_Connectors.jpg" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/PowerPole_Connectors.jpg" title="PowerPole_Connectors.jpg" width="250" />  <img alt="PowerPole_Connection_Between_Battery_wires_and_Rv_Connector.jpg" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/PowerPole_Connection_Between_Battery_wires_and_Rv_Connector.jpg" title="PowerPole_Connection_Between_Battery_wires_and_Rv_Connector.jpg" width="250" />

<span style="background-color: transparent;">In order to connect the wires stemming from the female end to the bot itself we bared the wires and crimped those on to ring tongue connectors which we then screwed in to a positive (pictured left) and negative (pictured right) connection on the robot’s battery strip.</span>

  <img alt="Negative_Terminal_on_Battery_Strip_in_Robot.jpg" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/Negative_Terminal_on_Battery_Strip_in_Robot.jpg" title="Negative_Terminal_on_Battery_Strip_in_Robot.jpg" width="250" />  <img alt="Positive_and_Negative_Terminals_on_Battery_Strip_In_Robot.jpg" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/Positive_and_Negative_Terminals_on_Battery_Strip_In_Robot.jpg" title="Positive_and_Negative_Terminals_on_Battery_Strip_In_Robot.jpg" width="250" /><img align="left" alt="Postive_Terminal_on_Battery_Strip_in_Robot.jpg" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/Postive_Terminal_on_Battery_Strip_in_Robot.jpg" title="Postive_Terminal_on_Battery_Strip_in_Robot.jpg" width="250" />

---++ The Entire Setup

<img alt="Entire_Setup.jpg" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/Entire_Setup.jpg" title="Entire_Setup.jpg" width="250" /> <img alt="Mounted_Side_View.jpg" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/Mounted_Side_View.jpg" title="Mounted_Side_View.jpg" width="250" />  <img alt="Mounted_Top_View.jpg" height="187" src="%ATTACHURL%/Mounted_Top_View.jpg" title="Mounted_Top_View.jpg" width="142" />  <img alt="Mounted_Back_View.jpg" height="188" src="%ATTACHURL%/Mounted_Back_View.jpg" title="Mounted_Back_View.jpg" width="250" />

---++ Testing

This booster pack more than doubled the life span of the robot during two phases of testing.

The first phase of testing consisted of infinitly looping through turns and direction changing. The robot was rasied on a box so that the teh wheels weer of the ground. Its left and right wheels moves in opposing directions for a set period of time and then changed directions until the battery was drained. Un-boosted the battery lasted about 4 hours, with the boosted the batteries lasted about 8 hours.

There is some room for error as the the the length of the boosted bot's test run required it to be stopped, turned off, and restarted during lab occupancy intervals.

The second phase of testing involved running a bot without the pack and bot with the booster pack in demo mode in an enclosed psace running object avoidance using the laser and sonar. The un boosted lasted roughly 2 hours while the boosted bot lasted roughly 4.5 hours.

Video of testing can be found in the included attatchments below labeled: "Testing_of_Booster_Pack"

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-- (c) Fordham University Robotics and Computer Vision

Attachments

Topic attachments
I	Attachment	History	Action	Size	Date	Who	Comment
JPG	50724960895__DD1561E6-2030-4443-9D73-A281DFE0EECE.JPG	r1	manage	1888.9 K	2017-07-07 - 18:57	MaggieGates	mount + batteries
jpg	Battery_Attachments.jpg	r1	manage	4726.2 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
jpg	Battery_Mount.jpg	r1	manage	2113.9 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
jpg	Entire_Setup.jpg	r1	manage	5293.6 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
JPG	IMG_5181.JPG	r1	manage	1911.7 K	2017-07-07 - 19:00	MaggieGates	wiring
JPG	IMG_8366.JPG	r1	manage	1846.2 K	2017-07-07 - 18:59	MaggieGates
JPG	IMG_8968.JPG	r1	manage	2144.4 K	2017-07-07 - 18:52	MaggieGates	Battery used
JPG	IMG_8969.JPG	r1	manage	1867.8 K	2017-07-07 - 18:52	MaggieGates	Battery used
jpg	Mounted_Back_View.jpg	r1	manage	5256.8 K	2017-05-25 - 21:13	MaggieGates
jpg	Mounted_Side_View.jpg	r1	manage	5167.7 K	2017-05-25 - 21:13	MaggieGates
jpg	Mounted_Top_View.jpg	r1	manage	7149.4 K	2017-05-25 - 21:13	MaggieGates
jpg	Negative_Terminal_on_Battery_Strip_in_Robot.jpg	r1	manage	5124.5 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
jpg	Positive_and_Negative_Terminals_on_Battery_Strip_In_Robot.jpg	r1	manage	5183.4 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
jpg	Postive_Terminal_on_Battery_Strip_in_Robot.jpg	r1	manage	5451.1 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
jpg	PowerPole_Connection_Between_Battery_wires_and_Rv_Connector.jpg	r1	manage	4900.7 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
jpg	PowerPole_Connectors.jpg	r1	manage	4285.5 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
jpg	RV_Connector_Used.jpg	r1	manage	6798.4 K	2017-05-25 - 21:10	MaggieGates	Booster Pack Connections and Mount Photos
m4v	Testing_of_Booster_Pack.m4v	r1	manage	29051.0 K	2017-05-25 - 21:16	MaggieGates	Testing of Booster Pack

Topic revision: r7 - 2019-09-18 - LabTech