Using drill batteries in robots

[psycho_fling]

Hi all,

could someone instructed me on how to covert drill batteries, to useable battteries in a robot?

thanks alex

[john_frizell]

Drill batteries come with a charger and a drill. If you are not taking the drill apart to make your drive train then get a discarded drill (tips are good), take it apart and you will find inside a clip that fits on the battery terminals. That way you can use your drill battery for your robot but it will still fit into your charger and you can use it in your drill too.
Drill batteries are fine for a first robot but battery packs designed for model cars and planes give better performance. But they cost more and require specialized chargers which you already have with your drill.

this may give you an idea, sorry the page is not as compleate as i would like. time is always of the essence

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/thorak/football.htmhttp://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/thorak/football.htm


--------------
James - thorak.co.uk

[psycho_fling]

well we have so far taken the casing off, of the batteries and now dont know what to do (or didnt)

JOhn, we are going to use the motors for the drive system and the batteries for the power.

James i saw you disassembled the batteries completely, and then put them to gether how you prefered. what i wasnt clear on was how you then connected them to the chargers?

thanks alex

[bugs]

Cheap chineese drill batteries dont do very well in fetherweights:
http://www.bugs.nl/media/album/view.php?&path=L3J3L2N1aWprMjAwNS9ubC1jYXJsaWpuL0h QSU0xNzQ5LkpQRw==http://www.bugs.nl/media/album/view....bC1jYXJsaWpuL0 hQSU0xNzQ5LkpQRw==
Batterydrills have some nice current limiting to prevent these kinds of problems

But you can alway use them for a transmitter:
http://www.bugs.nl/media/album/view.php?&path=L3Byb2plY3RzL2Z6bjEvSU1HXzA2MzIuSlB Hhttp://www.bugs.nl/media/album/view....SU1HXzA2MzIuSl BH

[thorak_nemesis]

i dissmantled the chargers, wrapping the circuit board up so it cant short. and connected them directly to the batteries via a two way switch. one way connects the batteries to the rest of the robot (on) the other switches to the charging circuit. the mains transformer just plug into the socket from the charger board. nice and simple.

[john_frizell]

Best not to take the batteries apart, leave them as is so you can fit them into the charger. Its true that cheap Chinese batteries are not ideal but they will certainly get you through a featherweight match and the price is right. If you put two of them in series and so overvolt your motors (provided your speed controllers are rated for the voltage)your robot will go like a bat out of hell.

with idk (the football robots) we didnt even have to over volt them we used 9.6V motors and batteries. we used the battery packs form both drill and remade them and had them in paralell with each other

[psycho_fling]

so you just put them in seris when they are in the casing? and then charge them as if you using them for their main purose?

thanks alex

[john_frizell]

Yes, you can leave the battery packs untouched, charge them just as if they were going into a drill and then put them in series.