Before I ever started with robotics, I read Gordom Mccombs' book Robot Bonanza. He said it's best to use two battery packs, one for the drive motors and one for the microprocessor . And I built all of my robots like that. But I'm wondering if that's what everybody else does?
My current robot will use 8 NiMH D cells (8000 mAh each), 2 small 12v gear motors, PWM (hopefully) and the propeller. It would be really helpful to only use those batteries because it's getting kinda cramped in there. Should I go with 2 separate packs or is the technology better now?
I want to point out something barely related.
You mention planning on using 12v motors, but, only 8 rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries are typically stated to offer 1.2v. 8 x 1.2 = 9.6
When I started in this
When I started in this hobby, I used 2 battery packs because it was simple and straightforward. I still sometimes use two battery packs, a lighter one for the logic voltage, and the bigger, badder ones for powering the motors.
I guess it all depends on the task at hand and the devices you are working with. For eg : I saw a monster sumo robot few weeks ago using maxon motors that draw over 100Amps when they stall. So in that case, a bigger lipo was used for powering the motors separately and a smaller lipo was used for powering up the microcontroller and other onboard sensors. You can always build your own circuits and make use of resistors and capacitors to make use of a single battery pack, but really, like the others too have mentioned, it all comes down to what the application of the robot is.
Yeah, but these say "D
Yeah, but these say “D cell”, so I’m assuming it’s 1.5v each. I’m pretty sure I measured 12v when I had them all charged, (I’m recycling the motors and batteries from my Hector robot)
