How to Make a Battlebot Battery Pack

Decide what kind of battery cells will be utilized in your Battlebot. While most electrical systems run on 12 or 24 volts of power, common rules for Battlebot combat allow for robots that use up to 48 volts of power. This, most commonly, will entail the use of quad 12-volt battery structures.

Double check to ensure that your chosen components are fully compatible with your intended amperage and voltage. Compatibility between your systems is crucial.

Prepare to pack your cells. The array will depend upon your decisions in Step 1, and the type of battery used, either NiCad or lead acid. One lead acid cell is typically 2.0 volts, at least, and one NiCad cell is about 1.2 volts. Collect the cells together, count them out, and make sure the voltage is correct.

Pack the cells once they have been selected and sorted. There are two typical manners in which they may be packed: nested and cubic. Cubic packing involves arranging the cells in a row, while a nested design results in a battery pack that is smaller in overall size because a more circular or oval (clustered) array is used instead of rows. In the case of the clustered array, guess and check with different geometrical shapes to decide the best, most space-efficient manner to pack the batteries, and this will depend upon the number of batteries you use. Regardless of the array you choose, pack the cells tightly together.

Solder the cells together to form the battery pack. Soldering cells directly together can cause damage, but direct spot welders are hard to come by. Thus, when using a soldering gun, check to make sure the soldering gun tip is clean. Then, apply a tinning coat of solder to each end of the cells. Place the two cells to be soldered about 1/4 inch apart, making sure the cells at the solder joint to-be are meeting at positive to negative ends. Move the solder gun tip around so that the two ends are evenly affected, then remove the tip and slide the cells together.

Apply a structure to the battery pack to hold it together. The best method is to use heat shrink tubing to keep the battery pack safely in tact. Shimmy the heat shrink tubing tightly over the cell packs. With larger packs, additional support may be necessary. Add a plastic sheet to the top and bottom of the pack to accomplish this.