Battery Solution for Makeblock Ultimate 2.0 Kit

Hi Everyone,

We’re looking for a battery pack solution for our Makeblock Ultimate 2.0 robot kits. Currently, they use 6x 1.5v AA batteries each, and they don’t seem to perform properly with 1.2v rechargeable AA batteries.

From my research, the mainboard can handle anywhere from 6 - 12 volts.

Ideally, I’d like some sort of USB rechargable lithium battery pack, similar to a USB power bank.

I was thinking 2x 18650 lithium cells in series could be the way to go, but i’d need some sort of enclosure for them and presumably a protection circuit?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Angus

What did you observe about performance?

Nickel metal hydride rechargeable AA could work, and would deliver 9.6V when charged, declining to 6.6V when near end of charge. A suitable capacity of battery may help; what capacity did you select? Capacity is measured in millamp-hours, mAh.

Have you confidence in the cells? Cells that have been used for other purposes for a long time will underperform, causing imbalance.

Have you confidence in the charger? A charger that underperforms will give you some cells fully charged, and some not. When you use them in the Makeblock Ultimate 2.0, the cells that are not fully charged may become exhausted, and the rest of the batteries may then force the exhausted cell into reverse polarity, which will do further damage. The battery pack doesn’t have a battery management system to prevent this. You can prove it happens by measuring each cell voltage with a multimeter at the time the robot is underperforming; a voltage under 1.1V is trouble.

I have seen car boosters on aliexpress and in other places. These are three lithium batteries in series with a battery management system. They have discharge and charge protection. They provide a nominal 12V output. It may be difficult to find one to fit the space available.

I have seen remote control (toy) car battery packs with a nominal 9V output, along with a midpoint connection for use by purpose-built chargers. These chargers prevent cell imbalance. You may be more able to find one with suitable size, and get the corresponding charger.

You could use a couple of 18650 cells, but you’ll need a battery management system to prevent cell imbalance in the pack. You can get protected 18650 cells, which trade-off some of the space for a cell protection circuit.

Charging with USB would be difficult though; the voltage and power available may be insufficient. A special step-up charger could do it, at a loss; i.e. longer charge times.

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Hi quozl,

Thank you very much for the detailed reply!

We noticed that the motors didn’t have enough power to move under their own weight with the 1.2v rechargeable batteries.

The batteries were brand-new Energizer Recharge AA 2300mAh (made in Japan) so I have faith in the cells. The charger is an Energizer branded one that came with the batteries, a fairly generic AA and AAA charger. I’ll try with a Nitecore D4 charger that I have at home and see if that makes any difference.

If that doesn’t work, I’ll investigate RC car battery options.

Thanks again,
Angus

Okay, thanks.

Yes, the motors will deliver less force, and it might not be enough to overcome friction. Energizer Recharge cells have a lower voltage than Alkaline cells. 1.2V vs 1.5V. This adds up, a total of 7.2V vs 9V. Starting current of the motors might exceed the design current for the cells, and this will cause the voltage to fall further.

It seems likely that the minimum input voltage specification for the Makeblock Ultimate 2.0 Kit should be 9V rather than 6V. You could contact Makeblock about it, or contact Little Bird to ask them to ask for you.