enclosure for roboclaw and batteries

[tonythemediaguy]

Hi,

I'm trying to finish my lawn bot and I need to either put everything in an enclosure, or maybe just the roboclaw. Is it ok to put it in a steel box with the 2x12V batteries? There will be a cooling fan pulling air in and out of the box. But I was just thinking that maybe those batteries get warm. Maybe I should look at putting the roboclaw in it's own enclosure, like an ammo box or similar.

Thanks for any advice,
Tony

[Basicmicro Support]

Heat from the batteries is probably not an issue. Also with lead acid I wouldn't worry too much about them getting too hot from ambient either. It is more important to keep the controller cool. The hotter it gets from ambient the less power it will let you use.

I'd also recommend shading the box some. Direct sunlight on steel gets HOT!!!. Painting a light color may help prevent that but it would be better to prevent direct sunlight on the box all together.

[tonythemediaguy]

Thanks for your help. I painted my box white, and I plan to leave the lid off anytime it's running. I also added a 90 watt solar panel that serves as a "shade" for the box. I had an old automobile power car window mechanism that I rigged to the solar panel to adjust the angle/grant me access to box. I'm planning on adding some photo-resistors to enable the vehicle to do solar tracking.

[Basicmicro Support]

Sounds very cool. Pictures or link to a video are always appriciated.

[tonythemediaguy]

I posted in the User Projects thread.

[Basicmicro Support]

Thanks. That thing is a monster.

Video links are appreciated as well. Hint, Hint.