Topic: The Better Battery Thread (Read 113123 times)

taoworm23 · « **on:** April 27, 2015, 05:04:55 PM »

Ok as most of us with Ugobes know, all stock batteries are fubar.
They are either flat out dead or won't hold a charge.
So I bought a refurbished battery from a seller in Italy.
The first one he sent was defective so he sent me a replacement.
The replacement battery works great and is advertised as being 2700mah but I knew this was not the case.

And with the green tape removed...

Hmmm "Join" brand batteries. ...
Never heard of em.

No name battery from China doesn't look good...
I tested the ACTUAL mah and some were 1800mah some were 1200mah!
NONE of them were anywhere close to the claimed 2700mah capacity.

(The stock Ugobes battery's were worse at a advertised 750 mAh capacity. When tested the actual capacity was closer to 400mah.)

Now for the good news...
I can make pleo replacement battery's with a true 2500mah to 2700mah.
I call it The Ugobe Super Pack.
(Its a High mAh, Low Self Discharge , Low internal resistance battery)
Longest runtimes available with current NIMH battery technologies
Highest mAh battery for Pleo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal resistance measurement

Batteries can be modeled as a voltage source in series with a resistance. In practical terms internal resistance gives an indication of how well a battery can supply current to a load without the cell voltage dropping. Low internal resistance means low cell voltage drop under load. High internal resistance means high cell voltage drop under load. So if you are looking for a battery that can delivery high current to Pleo's motors, you want a battery with low internal resistance.

NiMH batteries come in two flavors: LSD and regular. LSD is "Low Self-Discharge", which means long shelf-life (they won't lose much energy while sitting around unused), vs. normal NiMH's which go dead after a few months of sitting around. The original Ugobe battery's were not LSD.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The specs on my new super battery are:

2642 mAh
47 mΩ Internal resistance
85% charge kept after 1 year of non use. (LSD battery)
Hours of runtime!

Would there be any interest for a battery like this on the forums?
If so I have some 3d parts to print.

grumpy · « **Reply #1 on:** April 27, 2015, 06:45:11 PM »

Would be an interesting product.

The questions would be about the cost and shipping.

kat · « **Reply #2 on:** April 27, 2015, 08:16:59 PM »

I think there would definitely be interest as you just can't get the egg batteries any more and they were the best alternative we had to the original Ugobe batteries. Do you have any idea what the costs would be?

Anakey · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2015, 10:39:57 AM »

I have made a similar post in a different thread regarding batteries, i opened up one of the egg batteries to see what was inside it what looked like 4 phone batteries linked together in parallel would it not be better to try lithium ion batteries rather then NiMh ones?

Talon · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2015, 12:59:54 PM »

I think you might have a market here, Taoworm. As others have said, it would boil down to costs of production and shipment. Also I think it might be useful to know if such a battery can be charged in the egg charging cradle or if it would be better to charge it using the old Ugobe cradle? Also don't forget that (possibly), your product may be handled by somebody younger than twelve and you'd want to be sure the battery can stand up to a little abuse without coming apart or having the casing crack or something. This really sounds exciting and I wish you well with developing it! Who knows? If this product goes over well, you could probably do something similar for the RB and provide the community with a slightly cheaper means of getting newer batteries.
Talon

taoworm23 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2015, 04:16:26 PM »

Quote from: Anakey on April 28, 2015, 10:39:57 AM

...Would it not be better to try lithium ion batteries rather then NiMh ones?

Not LiPo because;

- voltage is more appropriate (lipos may be too high, although plenty use them without the regulator mod).
- the batteries are not damaged if you leave them in Pleo left on accidently (unlike a lipo where you will write it off by over discharging)
- the NiMH are inherently safer (IMO) than having a lipo sitting in your expensive Pleo for weeks (most of us would not leave a fully charged lipo sitting in a gadget for weeks unattended, so why do it with a Pleo ?
- unlike standard NiMH, they do not self discharge quickly

Lipos have a higher self discharge rate than my battery, namely 5% per month vs 1.25% for my battery.

You can't keep Lipo fully charged at room temperature because they degrade rapidly. If you want to store a Lipo fully charged then it has to be in the freezer otherwise at room temperature they need to be discharged down to 50% capacity.

(And the Ugobe Super Pack won't catch on fire if used wrong. )

Except for the weight difference - I do not see any logic in utilising a Lipo instead of my Ugobe Super Pack for a Pleo battery.

(My primary design intent is to provide the MOST mAh power more or less irrespective of when you use them. In other words, use Pleo ..... leave it for 6 months .... pick it up and it'll still have the same power and charge.)

OTH, the primary intent of the ordinary common-or-garden NiMH rechargeables (NON low self discharge types) is to provide as much short term power as possible. Go back to one of this type 6 months after use and it'll be dead as a dodo. Not intended for long-term power storage.

My Ugobe Super Pack does NOT need to be fully discharged before charging. The Ugobe Super Pack has no memory effect unlike other NiMH batteries. (This means you can charge them with the stock Ugobe cradle.)

My Ugobe Super Pack has more advantages over standard NiMH's and Lipos in this application, so really its a no brainer...!

Armand · « **Reply #6 on:** February 26, 2016, 05:42:43 AM »

Hi,

Yes please i would be very interested in getting a good replacement, would this be good for pleo RB as well?

Jaseypace · « **Reply #7 on:** February 27, 2016, 08:32:53 AM »

I have an original Pleo and am very interested in getting some batteries. My original one is useless.

scaledandtailed · « **Reply #8 on:** May 05, 2016, 05:16:18 AM »

I would be interested as well, the specks look good and it looks like the best option so far however but as there have not been any updates on the progress of this battery pack for over a year is this still a valid proposal?
Any updates on the progress of this project would be good.

Talon · « **Reply #9 on:** May 05, 2016, 12:08:12 PM »

Haven't seen taoworm in... forever. I think life may have gotten in the way.
Talon

scaledandtailed · « **Reply #10 on:** May 06, 2016, 08:16:37 AM »

Hi talon.
Haven’t been on here in a good while myself. It was really a recent news letter from pleoworld that promped me to get off my but and get back on here.
No idea what the news letter was about as the screen reader doesn’t deal with that any better than it does the website but it reminded me that I hadn’t had a Bob the pleo news letter in a while so thought I should check in.
Really pleased to see that a lot of the people who was here when I joined are still here.
Hope you’re keeping well yourself.
Shame nothing has come of this project as it looked like the best option since those white batteries with egg charger became unavailable. Really wish I’d bought one when I had the chance.

Sammijay · « **Reply #11 on:** July 03, 2016, 09:09:20 AM »

Looks like the seller bought 6 2700mah batteries glued them in place and taped them back up together. He claimed it worked great I might try this myself

Ulman · « **Reply #12 on:** July 12, 2016, 05:17:37 AM »

I would be interested in buy some of these batteries for my ugobe pleos

taoworm23 · « **Reply #13 on:** September 12, 2016, 10:00:19 AM »

I'm still here.

I could do a limited run one time only batch.
Who needs a battery?

I need numbers so I can get everything in bulk.

Talon · « **Reply #14 on:** September 13, 2016, 07:12:06 PM »

Hi, Taoworm23! *Waves* Nice to see you here again! I would be interested in securing two of these batteries since I have two Ugobes.
I am a little tight on funds at the moment as I have an Aibo and a Genibo taking up my couch cushion change for the next two months. Also I only have the egg chargers and not an original Ugobe charging cradle. Will the egg charger work for your battery? Try to keep this thread bumped. I think there are plenty of people looking for a new battery source for their Ugobes. Good luck with this project!
Talon

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #15 on:** September 13, 2016, 07:54:30 PM »

I'm not in critical need of any new batteries (I have two egg chargers/batteries that work very well), but it might be nice to have a couple spares around if the price point is affordable enough.

loumsc · « **Reply #16 on:** September 15, 2016, 11:22:58 AM »

I am also interested as long as we can keep the cost reasonable.

Anya · « **Reply #17 on:** December 22, 2016, 11:55:08 AM »

Considering buying a ugobe. Would definitely need one of your awesome batteries. How much would they be + shipping? Would you ship to uk?

tubbett · « **Reply #18 on:** December 27, 2016, 01:20:40 AM »

Hello

i have just got my niece a pleo rb and I would be interested in having another battery, also im in the UK too! happy xmas as well

Anya · « **Reply #19 on:** September 01, 2018, 01:09:51 PM »

Any news on the possibility of getting one of these super packs?

Anya · « **Reply #20 on:** September 11, 2018, 01:59:06 PM »

Found a few guides online and after a lot of battery hunting I reckon I can build one of these (maybe not as amazing but in the uk!)

I'll post my progress (for anybody still here) and the cost so that theoretically I could produce more.

mweed · « **Reply #21 on:** September 12, 2018, 03:31:20 PM »

It would be great if you can figure out on building them. There have been a couple of others who have looked into it, but I have not seen much from them.

Anya · « **Reply #22 on:** September 13, 2018, 11:10:24 AM »

Well I've got a bit of a head start cause my dad has a 3D printer and loads of electrical equipment including soldering irons. We will be having our first go at it on Sunday, but I won't be able to test our battery in pleo until I've done something about his skin!

Talon · « **Reply #23 on:** September 13, 2018, 03:17:11 PM »

*Sigh* Keep us informed. I am so shocked that these people who come up with these awesome battery ideas keep... well vanishing. Good luck! As far as your little one's skin, you may just have to dress him in a lightweight, loose-fitting set of clothing or something. Maybe you could remove his skin entirely and make a custom one for him. I thought about using Gibbs Rubber penetrant on Terry who is the worst-looking of my bunch, but since he is already literally coming apart at the seams, I don't suppose there is much I can do for him.
Talon

Anya · « **Reply #24 on:** September 14, 2018, 12:02:54 AM »

Looks like reskinning is an impossible task. Even the pleo experts haven't managed! I bought myself some expensive Gibbs from America and paid the expensive shipping And now have to wait FOREVER for it to arrive! I'd give the Gibbs a go on your old one, just to see if it does anything, if nothing else it would add to the information on here for others

Bob the Pleo Forums

Author Topic: The Better Battery Thread (Read 113123 times)