Chapter 8: Operation
NOTE:
The docking station cannot charge a platform and a separate battery at
the same time. If a platform is on the station, the power to the manual charge
connector is cut off.
Balancing the Battery
The platform battery is composed of multiple cells, which need to stay balanced in order to
maintain maximum run-time.
There are three ways for managing battery balancing:
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Set the platform‘s DockUntilDoneCharging parameter to True. In this case, the battery
will balance before saying it's done charging, so the battery will get balanced every time
the platform docks. You do not have to do anything extra to balance the battery.
In this mode, the battery will typically take about 10 minutes to balance after charging.
NOTE:
This is the mode that is recommended for platforms that aren't
doing battery swapping.
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Exchange the in-service battery, periodically, with a fully-charged spare battery.
A spare battery that remains plugged into a docking station will be balanced. In this
mode, you don’t have to worry about battery balancing, although it does add the task of
manually swapping batteries.
The interval between battery swaps depends on how the AMR is used. This includes
the weight it carries, and what percent of the time it is in service. You will need to
determine the best interval for your situation. Swapping the battery at every shift
change is a commonly-used interval.
NOTE:
This is the mode that is recommended for battery swapping, if
you are not charging the battery while it is inside the platform.
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Set the platform’s DockUntilDoneCharging parameter to False, to let the platform get a
partial charge by docking. The StateOfChargeToChargeTo and MinutesToChargeFor
parameters need to be set to appropriate (non-zero) values. You would then do a battery
swap with a fully-charged and balanced battery periodically, such as once a week.
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StateOfChargeToChargeTo determines the state of charge the battery needs to
attain before the platform can stop charging.
A 90% value here would get the battery mostly charged, but not balanced.
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MinutesToChargeFor determines the number of minutes the battery needs to
charge before the platform can stop charging.
The platform will stop charging when the battery reaches either of these para-
meter values.
NOTE:
If both of these parameters are left at the default of 0, and Dock-
UntilDoneCharging is set to False, the platform will dock, and never
undock.
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