Hi there,
Apologies if I'm asking the obvious, this is my first time using an ardupilot. I'm looking to power the ardupilot with a lead acid battery, the plan was to wire the lead acid battery to the power module which has xt60 connectors and then this will regulate the power before it is supplied to the ardupilot. From looking around very few people seem to use this type of battery and I was wondering if there are any obvious issues with it? The battery is 12v, and the reasoning behind lead acid is that size/weight aren't an issue.
Thanks in advance.
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sorry for restarting an old topic...
can i split the voltage from the lead acid battery between the Ardupilot and Sabertooth Motor Controller for a ground rover?
and yes i am trying to find out if anyone on this forum has ever used the Ardupilot with an Sabertooth Motor Controller :-)
For ground testing, no problem, 12V DC is 12V DC, roughly the same as a 3 cell LiPo. Long wires might cause a volt drop but other than that it's fine.
Your post didn't say it's for ground testing.
For testing at ground, this worked for me.
Even I was using a 12 battery car charger for this and was OK for me.
I believe your intention is not to fly with a acid battery on board.
But I can tell you, I was able to test (fly) my copter with 12v wires from the car charger (on the gound) up to 1-2 m altitude
(wires length), as I said, just for testing.
Hi there,
Thanks for your quick response. Did you just wire directly from the battery into xt60 connectors and into the power module? I'm also unsure if there is then enough power to run a servo off the ardupilot when it is powered in this fashion?
EDIT: to clarify I'm just looking to power the ardupilot and a single servo for test purposes on the ground
Yes, I did power the APM power module direct from 12v car battery or from car charger (the model with a switch for buster, which can generate 40 or 80 amp)
From car battery the 12v DC is more "clean", comparing to 12v from carger which is not such good filtering. But both did work for me.
Great thanks, what was your wiring set up between power module and the Ardupilot please?
Lead = heavy, they are just way too heavy for acceptable flight, good for cars yes, planes no.
A lead acid battery has an energy density of 40-50 Wh/kg, Lithium Polymer's energy density varies from 140-170 Wh/kg.
So a lead acid battery is 3 times as heavy for the same energy and that's not including the heavy plastic case.
Some Lithium Ion batteries are getting 260-280 Wh/kg, (search for 'NCR18650b') which leaves lead acid firmly on the ground :)