In the works: MAX1

[Krumlink]

I am sad to announce that the pasta bot series has ended, because the names were kinda silly .

I wanted to come up with better names, and to start that off I have devised:
the MAX Series! MAX stands for:

Nothing! I just wanted to make it up! SOunds fancy and important

BUWHAHAHA! It is simple! So simple I could create it! Flawless!

MAX1 Will be a solar robot that will charge itself and walk. It will be covered in the solar blankets just to look fancy. I will explain more when I am not so tired.

 

[Wingmax]

I wanted to come up with better names, and to start that off I have devised:
the MAX Series! MAX stands for:

Nothing! I just wanted to make it up! SOunds fancy and important

Yes, MAX sounds real good.

 

[ronsimpson]

MAX-1 sounds better than MIN-1

 

[audioguru]

It will charge its battery for a couple of months then it will wake up and take two steps which will discharge its tiny battery. Then it will charge again for a couple of months.

That is outdoors. Indoors it will take years to charge its battery!

 

[Krumlink]

No it wouldnt.

1. You dont know what solar panel is charging it
2. You dont know what batteries I will use
3. You dont know what solar engine I will be using

I would wait and see

 

[audioguru]

1. You dont know what solar panel is charging it

A huge and heavy one?

2. You dont know what batteries I will use

Huge and heavy ones?

3. You dont know what solar engine I will be using

It isn't an engine. It is a switch.

 

[monkeybiter]

perhaps you could mount a light on top which is switched on and pointed at the solar panel when the level of charge drops too low!

 

[Krumlink]

1. No, a 3cm by 6cm one
2. Small, Tiny ones with awesome capacity for POWER!!!
3. I know its a switch, sounds more interesting.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Teeny weeny Solor bots usually use pager motors and spin on the axles.
**broken link removed**

 

[audioguru]

Two of my solar garden lights have a solar panel exactly twice the size as yours. They have been outside in the sun all day today charging 2 AA Ni-Cad cells which will power the fading 3-colors LED for a couple of hours tonight.

In the middle of summer the LED is bright for about 8 hours.

Outside in the sun, your small solar panel will have a current of about 15mA at noon now in autumn. All day in the sun will produce about 30mAh. Not much to power two motors.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

1. No, a 3cm by 6cm one

Too small to provide any decent amount of charge.

2. Small, Tiny ones with awesome capacity for POWER!!!

No, puny tiny ones, probably enough for what you want? - as long as you charge them from a decent source (not the tiny panel above).

3. I know its a switch, sounds more interesting.

And provides only a tiny pulse of power to move a tiny pager motor, like Audioguru said.

 

[Krumlink]

The calculated current comsumption of the walking robot under no load is 100ma. I was going to use 2 paralleled 3.6V 270mah Batteries (nicad rechargeables) for a total of 540mah. At a low current input of at least 60ma (the solar panels that I have in a very dim room, rated at 3V 50ma, they got 1.15V at 20ma ) that means it would charge the batteries in 9hrs. This is at worst case scenario, as I will have a simple pin connection to plug it in and out, so it will have selective power (AA or solar). This will work.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Doomed to failure!!!

 

[audioguru]

A solar panel output of only 1.15V won't charge a 3.6V battery.
It is rated for 3V/50mA at noon in the sahara desert pointing directly at the sun, straight up. At other locations and times of the day the current is much less.

 

[Krumlink]

I know, I was going to put those 4 small ones in series and the bigger more ma one in parallel for more milliamps. Do you think it will work though?

 

[audioguru]

If one solar cell gives 20mA then many in series will also give only 20mA.
If you connect a big one in parallel then it will just drain into the little ones and you won't have any output.

 

[Krumlink]

I think that I will put the solar version on hold for a while.

Still, the walker is in the works, and I am working on it

 

[audioguru]

Today my solar garden lights were outside on an overcast day.
Tonight they glowed for only about 20 minutes.

There is a one-wheel robot on the internet. It balances itself. I don't think it is smart enough yet to turn around a corner.

 

[Krumlink]

That is kind of pointless. A one wheeled balancing robot? Amazing!

 

[Sceadwian]

Krum, try posting valid links sometime.