Useful Idea for Champs?

[CalTran]

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but....

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

If you want to spend a bunch of money on a battery charger, go for a solar charging system. We bought some solar panels, a big deep cycle battery, and a charger/inverter for our trailer for about $1k. If I recall the prices correcly, for significantly less than $500, you can get a 'briefcase size" setup that will charge a laptop and a robot battery at the same time whenever the sun shines. Not so good for competition, but still generally a good idea; we usually set this up for all of our outdoor demo events as a nice conversation and recruiting (students, mentors, and sponsors) piece.

I don't suppose your team would be interested in making a whitepaper for this "power pack?" I'm intrigued by the idea and think my team would love to consider building this for our outdoor events so we don't have to lug the gas generator around.

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by CalTran

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but....
I don't suppose your team would be interested in making a whitepaper for this "power pack?" I'm intrigued by the idea and think my team would love to consider building this for our outdoor events so we don't have to lug the gas generator around.

Yes, this sounds like a great idea!

[Hitchhiker 42]

Err, if you just brought along a power cord for the computer, you could plug it in while in the DS (on the field). Beyond that, and charging it while in the pits, I'm not sure you need much more power.