Were any folks able to pick-up the motorized wheelchair that was to be
donated for Cin-D LOU's locomotion?
Just curious for an update as we're eager/hopeful to see what we've
got to work with tonight.
Jim
FYI - There's a rumor this motorized wheelchair base unit donation
arrived at the HIVE last night. Way to go Jon and (?) others!
Unfortunately the SPY camera is dark right now so we can't see it.
Maybe someone can post a picture on the project page, or we'll just
have to wait to see it Tuesday night.
We're thinking to target upcoming Wednesday nights for Cin-D LOU work.
Jim
Yes we got it last night. I wish I had taken my camera to get a few photos before it started coming apart. The charging circuit seemed to be working and there were two batteries in it. Not sure if the batteries are good.
It looks like a great start to the project with large drive wheels, base, motors mounted, etc.
Brent
I wont be in the Cinci area until April but if there is any way I could help with some of the programming work on this project before I get back I would be happy to.
Brian Goessling
Brent,
Put the two battery on a slow 2 amps charge and see if they come back
’
FYI
Roscoe
One of the issues with the wheel chair upon arrival was that the cable going from the controller to the base was missing (apparently it was on the seat when we went to pick it up and disappeared at some point), but I was able to get another! The wheel chair does work! I have been riding it around sans seat, not super comfortable!! I think the batteries may have a very reduced capacity as it seems to be running fairly slow. This may not be a huge issue though as I don’t think we will be planning on racing it.
There is a linear actuator that raises the seat which could allow us to do some interesting things. It has a movement of about 6 to 8 inches.
After riding it for a bit I went and got a multimeter to measure how much the voltage of a battery was dropping while loaded as compared to unloaded. The voltage only drops about .1V per battery while loaded, but they drain extremely fast. I stood on it and rode it around the hive for just a couple of minutes and it went from 13.6V to 12.9V. Not a good sign.
Quick update: for some reason I can’t switch it back to the linear actuator, will have to figure that out later.
Hopefully I can make it to the meeting this evening and we can discuss some more plans for the robot!
One thing I thought of as I was riding it around would be to make a small cart for it or attachment for one of the carts we have to pull stuff around. It really has a lot of torque and can move a lot of weight (with myself sitting on it I was easily able to push one of the tables in the meeting area).
Jon
Sounds like the batteries have seen better days. What kind are they, deep cycle marine (12sessionTimer.init(); or 2 6 volt gold cart batteries, or some other variety?
Thanks
Roscoe
I think it is normal for a lead-acid battery to quickly drop from 13+ V during charge to a stable level just a bit above 12V.
Off the top of my head I’d guess dropping to 12.25V would be normal. Quickly dropping below 12V would not be normal. And you should research a minimum voltage for not damaging the batteries. I’d guess 11V is a reasonable first-guess minimum. Might be good to try 11.75, then charge, then 11.50, and so on.
Hopefully the controller gauge is well-engineered.
Matthew
What we've got is a model "1122 Jazzy" by Pride Mobility Products.
Here is a link to the download page to view the owner's manual. It
has a good battery charge section.
Jim