Laptop batteries on robot

Technical Electrical
1

Hi i am wondering if laptop batteries are allowed to be used to power a laptop on a robot during a match. I want to do this because it is our first year trying to do vision and we don’t know if we’ll get our rpi ready in time. thanks

2

Seems to be if it is a COTS labtop like a classmate its ok.
8.7 R37

3

If it’s the original battery built in to the laptop, then yes, it would be legal, as the laptop is a COTS computing device and its battery is required. If it’s an external battery(other than the robot battery), that would not be legal.

4

And provided the laptop is <$400

5

All of the above and the computer battery cannot be used to power other things on the robot.

6

so the camera can’t be connected to it?

7

Yes, a camera can be connected to it. Even that can have it’s own internal battery.

8

What I think Philip means is:

  1. Yes, if you have a USB Camera it can plug into the Laptop’s USB port and draw power from that port like any other USB device.
  2. The camera can have its own internal battery if the camera is made/designed/sold to include its own internal battery.

Be sure to check out the following Q&A questions for further clarification:

Q332, Q183.

-George