USB chicklet

[kDude]

How do we power the chicklet with a battery pack? We have the battery packs but the connectors are obviously different. Are we suppose to get an adapter?

[Spiders]

idt u need a battery for the chicklet

[waialua359]

Yes, you either have to buy or make your own adaptor.
We went to radioshack to find the right matching connector for the OI and soldered the 7.2 backup battery adaptor connecting wires to them. Then added some heat shrink tubing to seal it nice.

[WaterFreak]

For use during construction, you can use a standard power adapter that outpus ~ 9v (look in the user manual/FAQ on the IFIRobotics site).

During the competition, you MUST use a 7.2v battery (aka, a back-up battery). In the box is a small round mate for the power adapter. Carefully solder a red wire to the center post & a black wire to the outside post. At the other end, crimp on quick connects to mate up with the 7.2v back up battery adapter and away you go.

[kDude]

Alright, so after we solder the new head onto the battery pack, how do we charge it then?

[WaterFreak]

Originally Posted by kDude

Alright, so after we solder the new head onto the battery pack, how do we charge it then?

Do NOT do that.

Here is what you need:

1 - 7.2V battery (same as the back-up battery, but you need 1 additional one for each USB chicklet you want to use).

1 - 7.2 back-up battery adapter (IFI p/n ADAPT-BATTERY-7.2)

1 - round adapter (was in the box with the USB chicklet)

2 - male quick connect spades (mates with the ends on the back-up battery adapter)

1 piece of red wire (length whatever you desire)
1 piece of black wire (approx same length as red wire)

Steps for assembly:

1 - solder red wire to inside post of round adapter
2 - solder black wire to outside (ground) post of the round adapter)
3 - on the opposite end of BOTH wires, crimp the male spade connectors (for the quick connect)
4 - attach the quick connects to the other end of the back-up battery adapter (should look similar to the attached picture)
5 - enjoy

[waialua359]

yeah! dont solder the round connector directly to the backup battery.
after rereading, i can see why you thought that.
again, if you cant find the round connector, we got some from local radioshack.

[kDude]

Whoa, thanks. I definitely would've soldered it directly to the battery. The picture helps a lot.

[Jon Stratis]

Actually what you need is a nice, big battery in there, attached to a custom designed and built charging/monitoring board that then goes out to both the OI and the chicklet - then you can power both for several hours without recharging, or just the chicklet for practically an entire day... And the charging board takes care of everything for you when you plug that in using a typical AC/DC plug you can find from radio shack.

At least, thats what we did this year, and it's been working out great for us - it makes the entire OI set up completely mobile when we're testing - no need to be tethered to the robot or a power outlet!

[kDude]

eagle33199, were you by any chance at the Simley meet today?

[Jon Stratis]

Yup I was the guy coaching the driver the entire time. I'm sure you caught some glimpses of our "black box" OI.

[kDude]

I did, it was very pretty haha. And your electrical board was also extremely neat.

[Jon Stratis]

The electrical team really went all out this year to make things look good - but you wouldn't be able to see it if not for the nicely shaped and bended Plexiglass hood

Coincidentally, the charging/monitoring circuit we have on the OI is also in use on the electrical board on the robot. By using a few different components and different traces, they were able to use the same PCB in both locations - the one on the robot provides an 8-LED readout of the battery voltage (virtually identical to the read out on the OI), as well as a built in charging circuit for the backup battery. While you can always check the voltage from the OI (assuming it's tethered or in radio contact), having a quick glance circuit there really helps to know if you need to replace the battery or not, as you're looking right at it when you turn the robot on.