LiFePo Battery by Eco-Worthy brand, for safe, industrial use.
LiFePo batteries are more accepted for industrial applications, with reduced hazards and more compliance for safety compared with Li-ion. Lifespan is greater than Li-ion with cycles in several thousands before degradation (reduced to 80% of rated capacity, for example). Although the capacity is greater, the peak power output of this battery is similar to the standard SCUTTLE battery pack. The internals consist of 4 cells at 3.2v compared with our standard 3 cells at 3.7v.
Consider LiFePo for increased capacity, intermittent charging (such as solar panels), and robustness. Where the standard scuttle has minimal continuous power draw (perhaps 2-4 watts idling), some addons will cause a continuous discharge that warrants a larger battery like this one. If you connect monitors they’re commonly 5-15 watts, larger computers (such as intel CAPA55R) at 12 watts idling, or motors exerting holding torque (such as NEMA 17 steppers) taking 10W to hold steady. Lastly, if you have actuators at 24 or 36 volts, your converter may consume 2-5 watts or more while idling.
Characteristics:
- Nominal Voltage:12v nominal
- Rated Capacity: 10 AH
- Max Discharge: 10 A
- Max Power Out: 128 Watts, continuous
- Dimensions (cm): 15 x 9.4 x 6.6
- Terminals: quick-connect (spade shape, male)
- Recommended wires: 18awg or larger
(1 pair of cells gives 240 Watt-hours, data coming soon!)
The CAD Model is designed by SCUTTLE Robotics Open Source Community and evaluated with real-life components.
Recommended charger: Meanwell ENC120-12, available on mouser.com (best price for professional performance).
Charging:
You don’t need any special charger – this battery has built-in battery management system (BMS) just like our standard SCUTTLE pack.
- Easiest way: Hook up any power supply no more than 14 volts. Even a 12v 3A PSU will charge this battery, but it may take 6 hours. BMS will protect from overcurrent and the battery will reach 80 or 90% SOC before the current declines significantly, by itself. Connection: we recommend you build a cable of paired wire, 16awg, with quick-connect on one end and Anderson terminals on the other. The Anderson terminals can plug into SCUTTLE or into the charger.
- Professional way: Use a charger intended for LiFePo cells. The meanwell has DIP switches on the back and require that you set them for LiFePo so that the charge profile is optimized. The beginning is constant-current (limited to around 110w, while the voltage climbs up to near 14 volts and the end is constant-voltage around 14.6 volts with the current decreasing gradually.
- Crazy way: grab a 20 volt solar panel such as this renogy 100W unit and hook it right in. It can even go in parallel with the charging or discharging circuit. It works because the solar output has very little capacitance and drops down to the battery’s voltage as soon as you hook it up. The panel will not over-volt the robot because the excess charge dumps into the regulated battery pack, and your power bus will not see over 14 volts. We have tested it, but not under every possible condition. Try at your own risk.
- Charge time: The charge time with the above Meanwell charger is less than 2 hours (averaging around 100 watts).
- Parallel charge & discharge: With this battery and with any BMS-equipped battery, it’s generally safe to connect a power supply while things are running on the robot. The same goes for extra loads. You can think of the battery as a big capacitor that eats up electrons. Just DO NOT hook up a supply that can crank out high voltage and high current (over 14 volts and over 150 watts) simultaneously. Also, if you load the power circuit with an actuator above the battery’s rated power, you’ll drop the voltage on the whole bus and your computer will take a nap.
