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Robot Builder: The Beginner’s Guide to Building Robots
book

Robot Builder: The Beginner’s Guide to Building Robots

by John Baichtal
October 2014
Beginner
432 pages
10h 9m
English
Que
Content preview from Robot Builder: The Beginner’s Guide to Building Robots

4. Going Solar

Why worry about batteries when we orbit around the ultimate energy source? The sun radiates vast amounts of energy, and we can use this to power our robots—and other stuff—all through the cool science of solar cells (Figure 4.1), which convert light into electricity.

Image

FIGURE 4.1 Solar cells can be a great way to power your robot.

Your initial thought might be, “Simply add solar panels for free energy!” Not so fast. As I alluded to in Chapter 3, “Rolling Robots,” it’s not that simple. Even if you have a panel big enough to power your rig the way you like it, there’s no guarantee the sun is out. Furthermore, even if the sun is out, ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780133447880Purchase book