Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #10830
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Daniel Grace lifebytes_98@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 18:34:09 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: BEAMLAND and Solarbotics bring you 'Bot of the Week'...
Wouldn't it all depend on how many votes/bots you got?
If you start getting 2 bots a month, it'd be kinda
hard to get a monthly plug. If ya get 20 a month, you
might wanna do it even more often. From how I see it,
it'd be a balance of time, resources, and
participation.
~Daniel
--- Richard Caudle wrote:
> No way it's too much! It's just right. Gotta
> update almost constantly to
> stay fresh. New info means more hits! More hits
> means gravy!
>
> Richard
>
>
>
=====
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10831 Fri, 25 Feb 2000 13:39:01 +1100 [alt-beam] Re: Solar Cell tests beam@sgiblab.sgi.com "Ben Hitchcock" Well, it's always a trade-off.
If you put the cells in series then you will have a lot better low-light
performance (ie. you can actually switch on in low light, as opposed to
plateuing at 2.24 volts) but the high-light performance will suffer as you
found out.
What do you want the bot to do? If it's to live in your bedroom with little
ambient light, go for the two panels in series. If it's to live on a
perfect smooth well-lit RJP, go for the parallel option.
I tried a while ago to get two cells to switch between parallel and series
depending on the current level but I gave up when the best circuit I could
come up with took way too many components.
Anyway, I think you're learning heaps about this and before too long you'll
have the optimal configuration all figured out. I look forward to your
results!
Ben
----------
>From: "FCO Enr."
>To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
>Subject: Solar Cell tests
>Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 8:35
>
> greetings,
>
> I did some tests with some various solar cell configurations
> and here is some of the data I gathered as well as some questions
> for those of you who can explain this phenomena.
>
> First off, I tried various combinations to find the most efficient
> low light (my ambient light level) setup. The winner is surprising
considering
> even my Solarbotics catalogue seems to point in the wrong direction.
>
> A - SC2422 (3.5v @ 6ma)
> B - SC2433 ( 2.7v @ 16ma)
> ( I also experimented with the SCPDs but I didn't write down and time
> the results so I won't include them).
>
> The goal was to see how fast the circuit could gain .01v in my ambient
> light. I did my best to avoid any movement of cells.
>
> A 11.5 seconds
> A + B in series 6 seconds
> A + B in parallel 2.5 seconds
> B 3.5 seconds
>
> Now this is pretty odd considering it seems like wiring these
> cells in parallel improved their low light capability (not by much
> considering the space it takes up).
>
> WEIRD: When the voltage in the circuit reached 2.2 something volts
> I noticed it was takin MUCH longer.. from 2.23v - 2.24 it took
> 1 minute 7 seconds!!! I looked at my meter again and it hasn't
> budged from the 2.24v mark in over 2 mins!!
>
> I also noticed the times I stated above were between 1.4 and
> ` 1.58v. It seems like the charging between 1.1v and 1.2 is almost two
> times faster! Why does it vary depending on circuit voltage and why
> did the voltage sort of plateau at 2.24v?
>
> Now the light level hasn't changed AT all and I tried again when it got
> to 2+ volts the cycling was a LOT slower to get the same 0.01v
> WHY? So this also means if I get the lowest rated trigger it would
> improve low light capability DRASTICALLY!
>
> I would appreciate any feedback on this.
>
> Andy
> fco@total.net
>
> hrdware's digital sanctuary - mindless oddities
> http://www.angelfire.com/pq/hrdware
>
> The Factory - TF Map Making Tutorial
> http://www.planetfortress.com/factory
10832 Thu, 24 Feb 2000 21:47:18 -0800 [alt-beam] Re: shack caps beam@sgiblab.sgi.com Laura Malinowski Laura/Rob Malinowski To let you all know. The IC's originally came from the Shack, but almost
everything else came from Digi-Key. So I got in the car and drove over to pick
up another 5 pack of caps figuring that if I get the right combo I will be
home free. The theory worked. The tolerances are about 20%. I don't know if it
was just luck but it worked properly the first try. I'm thinking that one of
the caps I used during the first replacement was bad. Some where used in
another project. I just going to blame it on being way to early in the morning
for me to be touching anything with electricity running through it. It was
kind of cute, that sigh when I noticed what I was doing and remembering the
smoke theory.
Thanks
Rob M.
Dennison Bertram wrote:
> >perhaps it is just inferior quality > radio shack products.
>
> Actually Archer components are pretty much the same as anyones elses. It's
> takeing it a bit far to say that rat shack products are inferior. They are
> actually quite good products. Especially the electronics components. In
> addition, if your talking about consumer electronics, Rat shack will repair
> everything they sell.
>
> dennison
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