Manual

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LynxmotionSSC32UServoControllerBoard
ElectronicsGuide
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BatteryChemistry&Current
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Alkaline
Alkalinebatteriesaremostcommonlyfoundassinglecell9V,AAA,AA,CandD.These
batteriesarenotrechargeableandareusually1.5V.Youcanusefour1.5Vcellstomakea6V
batterypack.Thebattery’scapacityisrarelyindicatedonthecells,soitisdifficulttogaugejust
howlongtheywilllast.Ifthebatteryisinexpensive,youcanassumeitwillnotlastforlong.The
dischargerate(howmuchcurrentthebatterycanprovideeitherinburstsorcontinuously)is
alsorarelyeverindicated.Assuch,ifyouareusingseveralservosandnoticethattheydonot
haveenoughpower,yourbatteriesarelikelythecause.
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NiMh/NiCd
NiMhandNiCdarenormallyfoundasAA,AAAcellsorasbatterypacks.Thesecanbe
rechargedandarecurrentlythemostpopulartypeofbatteryformobilerobots(asidefrom
humanoids)becauseoftheirweightandprice.NiMharepreferabletoNiCdbecausetheycan
berechargedtofullcapacityeverytime,whereasifyourechargeNiCdbatterieswhichareonly
partiallyused,theywilllosesomeoftheircapacityeachtime.Singlecellbatteriesusually
provide1.2V,andassuch,tomakea6Vbatterypackyouwouldneed5cells.Thecapacityof
eachcellisalmostalwaysindicatedonthecell.Thedischargeratetendstobe1Cor2Cfor
mostNickelbasedbatteries.The‘C’ratingisinrelationtothecapacity.Ifacellisratedat
2800mAh,1C=2800mA.Forexample,a1.2V2000mAhNiMhcellratedat1Ccandischargeat
2.0Acontinuously.Usingfivesuchbatteriesmeansyouwouldbeabletoprovide6Vat2A
(continuously).Batterysuppliers/manufacturerscreatepacksofseveralcellstoprovidehigher
voltages,andaddacustomconnector.
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Lithium
LiPo/LiFeetctendtobefoundasflatcellsorrectangularpacksandarenormallyfoundas
multiplesof3.7V.LithiumbatterieshavetheadvantageofbeinglighterweightthanNiMhand
capableofprovidingsignificantlyhigherdischargerates(10C,20Corevenhigher).
UnfortunatelyforR/Cservos,3.7Vistoolow,whereas7.4Vis(usually)toohigh.Wesuggest
usingLiPoforhighvoltageservosonly.
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LeadAcid
Leadacidbatteriesarenormally6V,12Vand24Vthoughmanyotheroptionsarepossible.This
isthekindofbatteryyouwouldnormallyfindinagasolinepoweredvehicle.A6Vleadacid
batterypackcannormallyprovideenoughcurrenttopowermanyR/Cservos,butthebattery
itselfwillbequiteheavy.
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