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Is it always on? This is really cool. I like the idea of self-sustaining electronics(robotics in particular). I wonder if there's any gain using a UBEC or some

Is it always on? This is really cool. I like the idea of self-sustaining electronics(robotics in particular). I wonder if there's any gain using a UBEC or something vs. the car cigarette lighter usb thing you're using to jump from 12V to 5V. Edit: yeah I was going to say, I think I saw someone do a toolbox build before where it was solar powered/had a GSM module in it for communication... but I don't think it was a website, still neat.

louwrentius 6y ago
Thank you, yes it is always on. I already have replaced the car cigarette lighter usb thing with a proper buck converter but it reduced power usage with maybe 5% or less. I need to update my article on that.
- jcun4128 6y ago
  Other thing I was wondering about, I saw you have a percentage on battery what about "hours left". Not sure if that's easy to accurately estimate.
  - louwrentius 6y ago
    Even the battery % is a guesstimate, but I think it's possible. It's a nice idea. Thank you.
mycall 6y ago
For self-sustaining robotics, do they oil themselves?
- jcun4128 6y ago
  Haha, yeah it was a bit vague. I have fantasies about building small drone submarines and releasing them in the ocean. Those I don't know how they'd sustain themselves. A little ground rover that has panels on it sounds more realistic. And yeah the life span I don't know how long they would last for. But on a farm or homestead I would like to have little solar-powered wheel-driven drones pretty much that run around and do their own thing. It would be neat though, have a sat module on the drone submarine, and then the sub surfaces at night. I think at my local lake is more realistic. Of course in reality these things would operate in supervision/not break laws. But I saw an intriguing video [1] before and I don't know... it's personification I guess. [1] https://youtu.be/0iDBF23gI6I?t=52 https://youtu.be/0iDBF23gI6I?t=52
  - NortySpock 6y ago
    "little solar-powered wheel-driven drones" You may be interested to learn that a company is already doing this, with the "Tertill", a small solar powered random-walk weed eater. https://franklinrobotics.com/ https://franklinrobotics.com/
    - jcun4128 6y ago
      Yeah I saw that recently I think it's cool. The wheel design is interesting, I don't know how effective that little weed whacker it has is. I was also surprised how small the panels seem. edit: I follow this one guy on YouTube he built this thing [1], that's the basic idea. It doesn't really have a purpose, but it's cool. In the long run though, imagine you're gone(passed on) and you built some robot that's out there still doing its thing. Probably talking RTG/space more like, than something on Earth that erodes. [1] https://youtu.be/nv2FbwjIZRE?t=8 https://youtu.be/nv2FbwjIZRE?t=8
  - golem14 6y ago
    All this is pretty hard. I recommend the rctestflight YouTube channel. Really useful if you want to build any robot for real.
- hinkley 6y ago
  You probably don't need any lubricant for an exceptionally long time. Some of us old-timers where pretty grumpy when bicycles switched to sealed bearings. They aren't perfect (more rolling resistance), they don't last forever, but they do last (stay greased and unfouled) a hell of a long time and require less skill to replace.

louwrentius 6y ago

Thank you, yes it is always on. I already have replaced the car cigarette lighter usb thing with a proper buck converter but it reduced power usage with maybe 5% or less. I need to update my article on that.

jcun4128 6y ago
Other thing I was wondering about, I saw you have a percentage on battery what about "hours left". Not sure if that's easy to accurately estimate.
- louwrentius 6y ago
  Even the battery % is a guesstimate, but I think it's possible. It's a nice idea. Thank you.

mycall 6y ago

For self-sustaining robotics, do they oil themselves?

jcun4128 6y ago
Haha, yeah it was a bit vague. I have fantasies about building small drone submarines and releasing them in the ocean. Those I don't know how they'd sustain themselves. A little ground rover that has panels on it sounds more realistic. And yeah the life span I don't know how long they would last for. But on a farm or homestead I would like to have little solar-powered wheel-driven drones pretty much that run around and do their own thing. It would be neat though, have a sat module on the drone submarine, and then the sub surfaces at night. I think at my local lake is more realistic. Of course in reality these things would operate in supervision/not break laws. But I saw an intriguing video [1] before and I don't know... it's personification I guess. [1] https://youtu.be/0iDBF23gI6I?t=52 https://youtu.be/0iDBF23gI6I?t=52
- NortySpock 6y ago
  "little solar-powered wheel-driven drones" You may be interested to learn that a company is already doing this, with the "Tertill", a small solar powered random-walk weed eater. https://franklinrobotics.com/ https://franklinrobotics.com/
  - jcun4128 6y ago
    Yeah I saw that recently I think it's cool. The wheel design is interesting, I don't know how effective that little weed whacker it has is. I was also surprised how small the panels seem. edit: I follow this one guy on YouTube he built this thing [1], that's the basic idea. It doesn't really have a purpose, but it's cool. In the long run though, imagine you're gone(passed on) and you built some robot that's out there still doing its thing. Probably talking RTG/space more like, than something on Earth that erodes. [1] https://youtu.be/nv2FbwjIZRE?t=8 https://youtu.be/nv2FbwjIZRE?t=8
- golem14 6y ago
  All this is pretty hard. I recommend the rctestflight YouTube channel. Really useful if you want to build any robot for real.
hinkley 6y ago
You probably don't need any lubricant for an exceptionally long time. Some of us old-timers where pretty grumpy when bicycles switched to sealed bearings. They aren't perfect (more rolling resistance), they don't last forever, but they do last (stay greased and unfouled) a hell of a long time and require less skill to replace.