i got one of those cheap solar 4 in 1 robot toys. makes a little dinosaur and other things.
i was wanting to make some kind of small storage/boost circuit for him as hes pretty terrible.
currently he is just a motor hooked directly to the small solar panel. in anythign other than blazing light he doesnt move.
my idea is to make a very simple circuit that would charge up what little power the panel has in a capictor. then once the voltage is high enough it would discharge it all into the motor for a quick small boost of motion.
ive tried faffing in yenka cicuit design program but i just cant get it to work with various gates. can someone tweak my given circuit or give me a better one. the smaller and simpler the better.
thanks in advance
jim
simple solar circuit
- jimmyhackers 10 kW
- Posts: 542
- Joined: May 11 2015 3:33pm
simple solar circuit
- Attachments
-
- solar thing.png (12.76 KiB) Viewed 1671 times
if you do learn from your mistakes, i should be a genius by now.
Re: simple solar circuit
Your problem is going to be that at .5 volts (what you get out of a single cell) you are going to be hard pressed to do any sort of a timer. Consider something like this: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/5673741jimmyhackers wrote: ↑Jan 06 2020 3:19amcan someone tweak my given circuit or give me a better one. the smaller and simpler the better.
It's a boost converter designed for use with single cells. This will get you 3.3 or 5 volts out. From there you can do a simple voltage threshold detector with some hysteresis. Use a low voltage comparator to turn on a switch or small relay at (say) 3.3 volts and off at 2.5 volts.
To calculate comparator resistor values take a look at: https://www.daycounter.com/Calculators/ ... ator.phtml. Use very high value resistors.
--bill von
- jimmyhackers 10 kW
- Posts: 542
- Joined: May 11 2015 3:33pm
Re: simple solar circuit
haha, they do make them
they are called energy harvester circuits ltc3588
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143442907104 ... %7Ciid%3A1
kinda pricey though :S
they are called energy harvester circuits ltc3588
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143442907104 ... %7Ciid%3A1
kinda pricey though :S
if you do learn from your mistakes, i should be a genius by now.
- jimmyhackers 10 kW
- Posts: 542
- Joined: May 11 2015 3:33pm
Re: simple solar circuit
i found the original circuit aswel...
https://www.instructables.com/Make-a-So ... Bug-Robot/
can buy over 10 sets of the components needed for this circuit....for the same price as one of those energy harvesting modules.
https://www.instructables.com/Make-a-So ... Bug-Robot/
can buy over 10 sets of the components needed for this circuit....for the same price as one of those energy harvesting modules.
if you do learn from your mistakes, i should be a genius by now.