Specifications & Controls
12
With the high-speed (4A maximum current) charger, recharge time is greatly reduced. It also supplies sufficient current
to continuously operate the robot and onboard accessories, such as the onboard PC and radios. But with the higher-
current charger, care must be taken to charge at least two batteries at once. A single battery may overcharge and
thereby damage both itself and the robot.
All our recommended chargers are specifically designed for safe lead-acid battery recharging. Indicators on the
module’s face show fast-charge mode (typically an orange LED) in which the discharged batteries are given the maximal
current, and trickle mode (green LED indicator), which the batteries are given only enough current to remain at full
charge.
S
AFETY
ARCOS
W
ATCHDOGS
ARCOS contains a communications
WatchDog
that will halt the robot’s motion if communications between a PC client
and the robot server are disrupted for a set time interval. The robot will automatically resume activity, including motion,
as soon as communications are restored.
ARCOS also contains a stall monitor. If the drive exerts a PWM drive signal that equals or exceeds a configurable level
(
StallVal
) and the wheels fail to turn, motor power is cut off for a configurable amount of time (
StallWait
). ARCOS
also notifies the client which motor is stalled. When the
StallWait
time elapses, motor power automatically switches
back on and motion continues under client control.
You may reconfigure the various FLASH-based parameter values to suit your application. See Chapter 7,
Updating &
Reconfiguring ARCOS
, for details.
