Questions of DFRobot 4WD Arduino Mobile Platform

Help & Support Robots & Kits
1

well, to introduce myself this is my first robot and I can handle some electronics, I do have 18 years of programming experience sooo :wink:

I’m building this robot for my 1 year old kid…This is what i got last night

DFRobot Romeo All-in-one Microcontroller (ATMega 328)
DFRobot URM V3.2 Ultrasonic Sensor
Lynxmotion Pan and Tilt Kit / Aluminium
DFRobot URM Sensor Mounting Bracket
DFRobot 4WD Arduino Mobile Platform
DFRobot Sound Sensor

The main objective is that the robot be autonomous, avoid objects/walls and follow/detect sound.

I know i’ll need more sound sensors but for the time being one is for testing. Now to my point, i’ve some question before my order arrive

  1. The DFRobot 4WD Platform comes with a power port, how can i use it to recharge my batteries (5xAA NIMh rechargable)? any board/circuit around to do that?

  2. Can i power with other type of battery like a lipo battery without any problem with the board or the motors?

2

The chassis kit comes with a power switch so my plan will be to use a 5-cell 6V niMh 2800mah battery pack, wire the power port to the battery pack and the switch, so when the switch is at on position will use batteries and when at off use power from the port where the charger will be connected. Something like this will work?

Power Port + > Bat Pack + > Switch > Microcontroller +
Power Port - > Bat Pack - > Microcontroller -

The battery pack is
RB-Lyn-135

Also what charger is best?
RB-Sct-187
RB-Ten-02

3

Hi,

It is very easy to charge the batteries inside the robot chassis. You do not need additional component. You just need 5v wall charger with the standard rounded male port which you could connect to the female power port.

You can use it to charge the standard 5xAA rechargable battery, without openning the chassis.

There is an excellent tutorial that does exactly that: linuxcircle.com/2013/03/21/4wd-chassi-power-wiring-setup/

4

In order to charge the battery form the port you could connect the output of a wall charger to your port* robotshop.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pc=RB-Hct-01

You can use other types of batteries as long as the voltage they produce does not exceed the tolerances of your components.

5

You will need a charging and power supply circuit that would select the available source of power.

If you want to use a ready made charger, we recommend simply sing a DPDT switch to go from Charging to Powered mode.

6

We believe you will get faster charge times form RB-Ten-02, but the other one will work as well.

7

and how i can connect the port internaly to the bateries while they are connected to the board?