Society of Robots - Robot Forum
Mechanics and Construction => Mechanics and Construction => Topic started by: angelscar on January 24, 2010, 03:11:21 AM
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Hello!
My name is Nicolas.
I am new at robots and I just wanted a little help and some suggestions about my first robot that I am planning to make!
I want to make a robot that uses energy to move from wind or sun. That energy is going to go into some rechargeable batteries
so the robot can move and make what I will program it to do. I just wanted you to give me some suggestions because I am about
to go at a contest! So please help!
Nicolas.
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Well..there are numerous options. you just have to look at the pros and cons
Solar is the most obvious. you can use as many or little solar cells you want to attaine the wanted voltage and currnet. you can have a sensor tilt them to maximze the sun it uses.
wind turbines can be big and intrusive and not as energy efficiant as solar. you can gear them but they still lose energy. and dont think a wind turbine is a large propeller looking thing. it can be anything that uses its fluid dinamics to collect wind and turn it into energy. but often it is intrusive and not practical for a robot.
but before you make a descision think about all the testing location(windy,sunny etc).size of the robot etc. and tell us as it will help us give you better advice.
Regards
Joker94
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Thanks for the answer! Remember it will be my first robot so I need to keep it simple.
Do you suggest just solar? Can I put a light resistor so the robot can follow places with more light
so it can move?
Thanks
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Yeah i think solar is the way to go
as for the light sensor. i am not sure what the best way to go is. it may be that you have say 4 sensors placed around the bot in specific locations to sens the magnitue of light in a given direction and adjust the panels to a given direction.
as for the mechanical part. you will have to have the panels mounted on something called an arry. it will give one axis of movment as that should be sufficient( 2 axis of movment would A. over complicate things and B. drasticaly increase the number of servos)I am happy to come up with a CAD/drawing of what i mean.
I suggest servos as you can get some micro servos that are small light and easyer than alot of other methods and will give good control.
Just to give us a gauge of what your skills/experience is would be good so e can suggest suitable ideas. elctronics, mechanics etc.
and an important factor, what is the robot going to end up doing.
Regards Joker94
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You could put photoresistors on the corners of your robot and when they all read as low resistance, then that means the solar panels are in the sun.
As far as tilting them goes, you don't really have to. Most solar panels will reach near maximum strength even if the light's at an angle.
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As far as tilting them goes, you don't really have to. Most solar panels will reach near maximum strength even if the light's at an angle.
Thats alot easier than i thought. You should know from your work. :D
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I want to make a robot that uses energy to move from wind or sun. That energy is
How about put a sail on it? Then when the wind blows it about you can use the drive motors to charge the batteries.
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You should know from your work.
Well, that's been the general trend for the different kinds I've tested at least.
Another thing I've noticed is that the measured voltage drops by ~1-2V when through a window and a ~50% drop under medium cloud cover.
Of course this isn't exactly definitive science here, but that should give you a rough estimate of how powerful of a panel you'll need based on your climate and power usage.
@angelscar: Also, in the future please use more specific topics such as "Powering My Robot with Alternative Energy Sources". It just helps to get a sense of the problem.