Battery Charging Station

[aechmtwash11]

So now that the robot has shipped my focus has turned towards pit setup. In 2008 our team (2783) went to IRI as a pre rookie team (we used 554's robot). One of the team's there let us borrow a slot in their battery charger. It was a pretty nice one and now i'm trying to figure out how they made it. It had probably around 25 battery slots, each with an anderson connector attached to the side of the slot. Then above the connector there was a red and green LED that would display whether the battery was charged or not. If anyone is on this team or knows what team it is, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, does it use multiple kit chargers or what?

[ratdude747]

i do not know who had it but i sure know how to make a good battery cart. in all honesty, 25 connections is a bit excessive... my former team has one that held 8 with 4 chargers, all hardwired together. we never had a battery shortage either...

I actually built it and I have pictures of it... that old one we have in the corner is actually very close structure wise (see below).

the attached photo is a younger me (january 2009) with the cart before it was engraved, stained green, and the side engravings of our logo painted black with with hobby paint. in addition, hokks were added to the back for the main cord's management and the wheels were moved to the inside of the sides to make it fir though doors better.

the 4th charger was not hard wired; we decided it was best to have it removable as we only had 4 chargers at that time. it plugged in to the righthand outlet.

somewhere I have pictures for you of it fully engraved and stained...

the BOM:

back/shelves: 5 layer plywood
sides/shelve fronts: white ash 2x6 (a mentor had it as scrap; this was overkill)

the sides have dado'd slots for the shelves, which were glued and screwed into place. the axle for the wheels was lathed on the ends for the original wheel mounting screws. the bottom "feet" are also made from plywood scrap, removable in case of damage.

the wheels are lawn mower wheels.

the outlets are wired to Indiana code, using offbrand 12-2 (maybe 14-2, i cannot remember) and 3 metal junction boxes.

for us: we have the boxes, outlets, wire (the metal shielded spool will work great), and main frame (the unit sitting in the corner) to replicate it. all we need are outlet/junction box covers and wheels/more wood to put underneath the frame.

email me for details on when you want it built.

[aechmtwash11]

the 25 slots really wasn't something I necessary wanted just trying to explain what it was...anyone know who made the one ia was talking about?

[WizenedEE]

Our team bought a charger from battery tender which can charge 10 batteries at once. You might consider buying one of them. It also has LEDs that show how charged the battery is, which you could probably attach longer leads to and bring out to the front of the station.

Really, it's better to innovate and create your own design than copy off another team's (we are engineers, right?)

When designing it, make sure to remember how inflexible the wire is.. make sure you have room for a large loop, and design it so it will handle batteries with the wire sticking straight up AND at a right angle.

Oh yeah, and you can get more anderson connectors at andymark.