Summary of BATTERY BOT MAKES SURE CORDLESS TOOL PACKS ARE ALWAYS TOPPED UP
Summary: Lance from the Sparks and Code channel built an automatic battery-charging robot that accepts depleted cordless tool packs in a hopper. A 3D-printed sled moves batteries from the hopper to a charging station made from an old manual charger mounted on a lead screw to adjust terminal height. After charging, the sled pushes batteries into an outfeed hopper and returns for the next pack. Integration challenges with Arduino control and charger wiring were solved, allowing users to dump multiple depleted packs for unattended charging.
Parts used in the Battery Bot:
- Hopper for depleted batteries
- 3D-printed sled
- Charging station guts from an old manual charger
- Lead screw for adjusting charging terminal height
- Arduino for automation
- Mechanism to push charged batteries into an outfeed hopper
- Electrical connections and wiring to integrate charger with Arduino
There was a time not that long ago when every tool was cordless. But now, cordless power tools have proliferated to the point where the mere thought of using a plain old wrist-twisting screwdriver is enough to trigger a bout of sympathetic repetitive injury. And the only thing worse than that is to discover that the batteries for your tools are all dead.
As [Lance] from the “Sparks and Code” channel freely admits, the fact that his impressive collection of batteries is always dead is entirely his fault, and that’s what inspired his automatic battery charging robot. The design is pretty clever; depleted batteries go into a hopper, under which is a 3D-printed sled. Batteries drop down into the sled, which runs the battery out from under the hopper to the charging station, which is just the guts of an old manual charger attached to a lead screw to adjust the height of the charging terminals for different size batteries. When the battery is charged, the sled pushes it a little further into an outfeed hopper before going back to get another battery from the infeed side.
Of course, that all vastly understates the amount of work [Lance] had to put into this. He suffered through a lot of “integration hell” problems, like getting the charger properly connected to the Arduino running the automation. But with a lot of tweaking, he can now just dump in a bunch of depleted packs and let the battery bot handle everything. The video after the break shows all the gory details.
Of course, there’s another completely different and much simpler solution to the dead battery problem.
Source: BATTERY BOT MAKES SURE CORDLESS TOOL PACKS ARE ALWAYS TOPPED UP
- What inspired the creation of the Battery Bot?
Lance was inspired by his collection of batteries always being dead and wanted an automatic charging solution. - How are depleted batteries delivered to the charging station?
Batteries are dumped into an infeed hopper and drop into a 3D-printed sled that carries them to the charging station. - What is used to adjust the charging terminals for different battery sizes?
A lead screw is used to adjust the height of the charging terminals. - What component controls the automation of the Battery Bot?
An Arduino is used to run the automation. - Where did the charging hardware come from?
The charging station is built from the guts of an old manual charger. - How are charged batteries handled after charging?
The sled pushes charged batteries into an outfeed hopper before returning for the next battery. - Did the builder face integration challenges?
Yes, Lance experienced integration hell, including getting the charger properly connected to the Arduino. - Can multiple depleted packs be charged unattended?
Yes, after tweaking, the system allows dumping in multiple depleted packs for unattended charging.
