Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #08542



To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com (mailing list)
From: Benjamin Edward Hitchcock beh01@uow.edu.au
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 10:01:15 +1100 (EST)
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Si vs SC - custom cells


----- Forwarded message from Bumper314@aol.com -----

In a message dated 12/21/99 2:21:13 PM Pacific Standard Time,
mikekulesza@hotmail.com writes:

> You all know the blue radio shack cells - 300 mA, 0,55 V... sooo... if you
> cut them into 8, and put in series, you get 37.5 A @ 4 V!!!! right?????

I worked on that for quite a while...actually harder then you would
think...the cutting part was the hardest. If you have any success without
spending more then $10 I would be interested

Steve

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahh if only that were so. If you cut the solar cells up even further, you
would get even more voltage and even more current so could eventually
run the whole world of one tiny little solar cell!

Cutting up solar cells and putting them in series bumps UP the voltage,
but bumps DOWN the current. The power delivered from the cell will stay
the same, however. So for the above cell you could get 5.5 volts at 30 mA
- quite respectable for a BEAM bot. Note that in both cases the power
(165 mW) stays the same.

Think of it like a solar cell is a heap of little AA batteries all
connected in parallel. They give you the rated cell voltage when
connected in parallel, and lots of current. Stick 'em in series and you
get more voltage, but less current.

HTH,
Ben



8543 Tuesday, 21 December 1999 1:47 Re: New Bot power + other thoughts beam@sgiblab.sgi.com Senior
>Very nicely written!
>Anwyways, about spam-powered buts... You could mount a bot on your
>monitor and have the solar cell right on the monitor, facing it so it
>gets the light from it. Of course, it might be better just to have it
>face out and use sunlight... :)
>
>Jacob Booth wrote:
>>
>> Has anyone figured out how to make a spam powered bot? I have plenty of
it
>> to supply. Very ecologically sound.
>>
>> Just a thought about 'poor old Dave _SMITH_' - I can imagine the reaction
>> would have been similar (but opposite?:) if he announced a new product
>> using the Miller engine but didn't mention the license... I can imagine
>> everyone jumping over Dave saying how he shouldn't commercially use
>> someones idea without permission etc etc. I really think he only said it
a)
>> to cover his butt and b) he paid for the privilege to do so, so why can't
>> he mention it?
>>
>> I know it is very easy to feel like we OWN all the Beamish tek, but there
>> could be many others out there who are doing the same kind of stuff
without
>> having a clue what beam is. I sure was for years. I see similar
technology
>> all the time. Flag wavers, magbots and others are used by Mobile phone
>> companies as shelf top promotional items (wagging a sign or wobbling a
>> cardboard phone). And were they using the good old D-Cell battery? Oh no,
>> there is an amorphous solar panel attached. Same size as a sunceram...
Did
>> they steal the Beam idea, and heaven forbid commercialise it? I doubt it
>> very much.
>>
>> It certainly humbled me very much. Many people also know the secrets we
>> think we hold to ourselves in the Beam community. Our difference is in
the
>> application, and the philosophy, and most likely the budget. There is a
>> whole other aspect to beam that isn't one of the b, e, a, or m in the
>> acronym. And that is the community. How many scientific endevours allow
>> such freedom of exchange between researchers? Most work in the real world
>> is commercial, and the only publishing of information is a press release
>> announcing the completed product. We are lucky as we get to see
everything
>> grow on this list, as 'godparents' to every new creation that finally
gets
>> off the building board and into the 'real world' (and onto a web page...
>> ever notice all the pictures and descriptions? Seems very much like a
proud
>> parents' photo album:)
>>
>> Oh and by the way, I am not dismissing all the work that folks have put
>> into original designs saying that they are not new... of course they are.
I
>> love the idea that we push components in the wrong ways and get great
>> results. Using a 1381 as a voltage trigger certainly isn't our idea, but
>> using it to reset a CPU and using it to make an efficient solar powered
bot
>> are certainly different and original ideas. I like the fact that we use
the
>> analog regions of digital devices and many other tweaks and 'hidden
>> functions' of many other devices and components. This is the knowledge
that
>> makes us unique, and you probably wouldn't learn about it anywhere
else...
>>
>> Keep up the work, and keep pushing those envelopes..
>>
>> Jacob
>>
>> Phew.. I shoulda called this my BEAM manifesto of 1999
>>
>> New years resolution? To make all the crap I have been THINKING about. I
>> need that space in my head back...
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Jacob Booth BIS, MCP Web http://www.its.mary.acu.edu.au/
>> IT Services Email j.booth@mary.acu.edu.au
>> Phone (02) 97392235 Fax (02) 97392924
>> Australian Catholic University - MSM Campus Strathfield NSW
>> "Your lack of planning does not make it an emergency on my part"

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