Battery Indicators and Low Voltage Conditions

Specifications and Controls

and slide each battery out of its bay. Spring contacts on the robot’s battery power board alleviate the need for manually attaching and detaching power cables or connectors.

Balance the batteries in your robot.

Battery life, of course, depends on the configuration of accessories and motor activity. AT charge life typically ranges from two to three hours. The DX runs continuously for six hours or more; up to four hours with onboard computer. If you don’t use the motors, your robot’s microcontroller will run for several days on a single battery charge.

IMPORTANT: Batteries have a significant impact on the balance and operation of your robot. Under most conditions, we recommend operating with three batteries. Otherwise, a single battery should be mounted in the center, or two batteries inserted on each side of the battery container.

Battery Indicators and Low Voltage Conditions

The User Control Panel has a bi-color LED labeled BATTERY that visually indicates current battery voltage. From approximately 12.5 volts and above, the LED glows bright green. The LED turns progressively orange and then red as the voltage drops to approximately 11.5 volts.

Aurally, the User Control Panel’s buzzer, if active (see the AROS SoundTog client command and FLASH parameter), will sound a repetitive alarm if the battery voltage drops consistently below the FLASH LowBattery level. If the battery voltage drops below 11 volts, the microcontroller’s watchdog server automatically shuts down a client connection and notifies the computer, via the HOST RI (ring indicator) pin, to shut down and thereby prevent data loss or systems corruption due to low batteries.

Recharging

Typical battery recharge time using the recommended accessory (800 mA) charger varies according to the discharge state; it is roughly equal to three hours per volt per battery. The Power Cube accessory allows simultaneous recharge of three swappable batteries outside the robot.

With the optional high-speed (4A maximum current) charger, recharge time is greatly reduced. It also supplies sufficient current to continuously operate the robot and onboard accessories, such as the onboard PC and radios. But with the higher-current charger, care must be taken to charge at least two batteries at once. A single battery may overcharge and thereby damage both itself and the robot.

The new automated docking/recharging system is the best option. Because its integrated charge-management system has sufficient power and actively adjusts to system loads, it can run your robot's onboard systems while properly and optimally recharging its batteries. And because the charging mechanism may be operated independently of your robot's systems power, you may start up and shut down your robot and its onboard systems without disturbing the battery charging cycle.

All our recommended chargers are specifically designed for safe lead-acid battery recharging. Indicators on the module’s face show fast-charge mode (typically an orange LED) in which the discharged batteries are given the maximal current, and trickle mode (green LED indicator), which the batteries are given only enough current to remain at full charge.