12 minutes ago, Philo said:

@Phondly - Great job, congratulations!

Thanks!

My future plan is to somehow incorporate the battery and electronics into the previous PF battery box as well.

1 hour ago, Phondly said:

Thanks!

My future plan is to somehow incorporate the battery and electronics into the previous PF battery box as well.

As servos are now over 70€ and not getting cheaper (unless Chinese servos become capable of multiple positions) I think PF will naturally reach end of life pretty soon. Better to focus on PU.

@Phondly Hey, the design is neat. My lesson learned is to make it possible to disconnect the battery from the circuit. The step down converter in my lipo battery box always burned some energy (don't ask me why) and thus managed to deep discharge and kill the lipo while it was not used for some time : ( 

Not sure if it applies to your setup

10 minutes ago, m2fel said:

@Phondly Hey, the design is neat. My lesson learned is to make it possible to disconnect the battery from the circuit. The step down converter in my lipo battery box always burned some energy (don't ask me why) and thus managed to deep discharge and kill the lipo while it was not used for some time : ( 

Not sure if it applies to your setup

Yes, that's one of the reason why I didn't try to follow the route of output converter (the other beeing simplicity!!!)

Nice work.

13 minutes ago, m2fel said:

@Phondly Hey, the design is neat. My lesson learned is to make it possible to disconnect the battery from the circuit. The step down converter in my lipo battery box always burned some energy (don't ask me why) and thus managed to deep discharge and kill the lipo while it was not used for some time : ( 

Not sure if it applies to your setup

I think that may depend on where you connected the  step down converter.  If you connect after the BMS module, the BMS should keep it from fully discharging.  But batteries can also self-discharge internally.  It's good to recharge from time to time.

 

2 hours ago, amorti said:

As servos are now over 70€ and not getting cheaper (unless Chinese servos become capable of multiple positions) I think PF will naturally reach end of life pretty soon. Better to focus on PU.

You may be right, but I thought a lot of people already have a motorised Technic kit from the last 5-10 years and want to use it without having to redesign and replace all the PF parts. I think I need to do a market research about it :)

1 hour ago, m2fel said:

@Phondly Hey, the design is neat. My lesson learned is to make it possible to disconnect the battery from the circuit. The step down converter in my lipo battery box always burned some energy (don't ask me why) and thus managed to deep discharge and kill the lipo while it was not used for some time : ( 

Not sure if it applies to your setup

Thanks,
I am using a BMS directly on the battery terminals and it cuts connection around 6V. Those are cheap little circuits and working very well in case of overcharge, overdischarge and overcurrent. I have built 3 Battery packs one is 3A,  an other one is 5A and one is 8A discharge capable.

1 hour ago, Philo said:

Yes, that's one of the reason why I didn't try to follow the route of output converter (the other beeing simplicity!!!)

I thought the same at the beginning but I also wanted to keep constant output voltage as long as I could. The LiPo battery can easily keep up with the power demand, so I chose a powerful boost converter for the output.

2 hours ago, dr_spock said:

Nice work.

I think that may depend on where you connected the  step down converter.  If you connect after the BMS module, the BMS should keep it from fully discharging.  But batteries can also self-discharge internally.  It's good to recharge from time to time.

 

Thanks.

That's exactly what I did.

USB charger ----> BMS (Battery) ----> Boost converter ----> LEGO HUB

1 hour ago, Phondly said:

You may be right, but I thought a lot of people already have a motorised Technic kit from the last 5-10 years and want to use it without having to redesign and replace all the PF parts. I think I need to do a market research about it :)

Thanks,
I am using a BMS directly on the battery terminals and it cuts connection around 6V. Those are cheap little circuits and working very well in case of overcharge, overdischarge and overcurrent. I have built 3 Battery packs one is 3A,  an other one is 5A and one is 8A discharge capable.

Hey, I believe BMS tend to drain batteries slowly when there is nothing else connected. As I am fare from experienced I hope someone with the proper technical background can comment on this.

For my lego lipo battery box I placed a switch to disconnect the lipo from everything and added a lipo warner (saver). Not the buzzer as they are way too noisy for me but a super bright led.

20 hours ago, Phondly said:

I know this is an old topic, but I have been working on this project for almost a year. So if anyone ever looks in, here's a picture of the developments and a link for a short intro video.

 

This looks very cool.  I like this much better than full custom battery boxes like BuWizz.  This stays compatible with PoweredUp but can offer recharge ability and higher voltage. Awesome work!

This looks really promising, been waiting for something like this to appear. Especially that it has 9V output.

So would the actual battery need to be purchased separately? Being in Hungary like you @Phondly, I believe I could acquire it here if you can, but I wonder how standard such a thing is, how easy it is to get it everywhere in the world.

Curious how much it weighs in total? Is it lighter than a hub with 6 rechargeable AA batteries?

Edited January 22, 20223 yr by gyenesvi

On 1/21/2022 at 6:24 PM, m2fel said:

Hey, I believe BMS tend to drain batteries slowly when there is nothing else connected. As I am fare from experienced I hope someone with the proper technical background can comment on this.

For my lego lipo battery box I placed a switch to disconnect the lipo from everything and added a lipo warner (saver). Not the buzzer as they are way too noisy for me but a super bright led.

You may be right, but I think it can be measured in half a year when the BMS drains the battery. The typical BMS input current (overdischarge) is between 0.1 to 10uA and 10uA is a very high number here.

On 1/21/2022 at 8:32 PM, Glaysche said:

 

This looks very cool.  I like this much better than full custom battery boxes like BuWizz.  This stays compatible with PoweredUp but can offer recharge ability and higher voltage. Awesome work!

Thanks.

My main intention was to keep everything looking original, I just wanted to avoid the use of not very environmentally friendly AA batteries with some extra power. I hope many people think similarly.

Those are some nicely designed electronics.
Have you considered flipping the power board on the other side, reducing the necessary length of the copper strips?

Are you open to selling the electronics board seperately, so customers have the option of printing the case themselves?
(Although this might hurt your sales revenue)

On 1/22/2022 at 11:10 AM, gyenesvi said:

This looks really promising, been waiting for something like this to appear. Especially that it has 9V output.

So would the actual battery need to be purchased separately? Being in Hungary like you @Phondly, I believe I could acquire it here if you can, but I wonder how standard such a thing is, how easy it is to get it everywhere in the world.

Curious how much it weighs in total? Is it lighter than a hub with 6 rechargeable AA batteries?

The prototype is still in a very initial state at the moment and I still have a lot to do until production.

At first I thought I would sell the package without a LiPo battery to make it easier to ship overseas, but I really want to provide a complete solution so I would still leave the question open for now.

The original AA battery insert is around 159 g (165 g with the original cover) and this new design is 102 g with the cover but without the 4 screws, but currently the case is made of PLA and not ABS plastic as it will be in the final version.

10 hours ago, schraubedrin said:

Those are some nicely designed electronics.
Have you considered flipping the power board on the other side, reducing the necessary length of the copper strips?

Are you open to selling the electronics board seperately, so customers have the option of printing the case themselves?
(Although this might hurt your sales revenue)

Thanks,

I looked at all the PCB placement options in the box, but the space was so limited that I ended up having to go in that direction. I would rather sell the battery pack complete, selling PCBs separately would not be an option at this time.

Sneak Peak :) (PF LIPO box is on it's way)

Battery Pack for Lego Power Function Battery Box v5 by Gergely Kis, on Flickr

Edited February 1, 20223 yr by Phondly

Another step forward, better quality 3d printed boxes have arrived. 4 beta prototypes are ready and waiting for testers.

 

looks awesome!

@Phondly was kind enough to provide me a prototype piece of his battery pack for the PU Technic Hub, so I have created a short video summarizing my impressions during usage with one of my off-road models:

 

Wow, it is amazing! Only a analog controller (without using a cellphone for a hub) is missing 👍😊

I also reviewed EnBo battery pack, as you guess in a more abstract way ;) This page compares 4 solutions:

• Phondly EnBo rechargeable pack
• Plain alkaline cells
• NiMH rechargeable cells
• My own LiPo home made

Spoiler: EnBo is awesome, alkaline is the worse...

https://www.philohome.com/pupbat/techubats.htm

 

Hello,

This EnBo sounds promissing.
What components are used inside (charger, DC-DC) ?
Are there availabe pictures of the Top- & Bottom- PCB Assmbly ?

A schematic diagram would be great.

Jo

4 hours ago, BrickTronic said:

Hello,

This EnBo sounds promissing.
What components are used inside (charger, DC-DC) ?
Are there availabe pictures of the Top- & Bottom- PCB Assmbly ?

A schematic diagram would be great.

Jo

Hi,

Sorry, this will be a commercial product, so I wouldn’t share the internal structure (sketches, etc.), but if you want to support mass production, you can do so in my forthcoming Kickstarter campaign. In the meantime, for the latest news, please follow Phondly’s official Facebook page here: https://fb.me/phondlydesign

14 hours ago, Phondly said:

Hi,

Sorry, this will be a commercial product, ...

Hello,

Does you plan to use a injection-mold housing or still a 3D-printed case for the comercial version ?
How many orders does you expect, that a molding-tool would make sense ?

Unfortunately I was not able to contact you via your Web-Page.
For a comercial Product this and an Impressum should be available

Jo

Edited May 4, 20222 yr by BrickTronic

On 5/4/2022 at 4:59 PM, BrickTronic said:

Hello,

Does you plan to use a injection-mold housing or still a 3D-printed case for the comercial version ?
How many orders does you expect, that a molding-tool would make sense ?

Unfortunately I was not able to contact you via your Web-Page.
For a comercial Product this and an Impressum should be available

Jo

Hi,

Thanks for the comments.

I’m going to use injection molding and raise money at the kickstarter to fund the first production bunch.

I’m busy just finishing my campaign page, but I’ll update my contact information on my website afterwards. This stuff is a prototype right now, and it will a commercial product only be after a successful Kickstarter campaign.

In the meantime, please contact me on my official facebook page https://fb.me/phondlydesign or here or at kisgergo@phondly.com

Gergő

On 5/2/2022 at 6:14 PM, FriedlS said:

Wow, it is amazing! Only a analog controller (without using a cellphone for a hub) is missing 👍😊

I felt something painful when I was driving the models with my mobile during the shooting of the upcoming kickstarter campaign. So after a successful campaign, I will definitely be working on a new remote control. :) 

Edited May 7, 20222 yr by Phondly

Is anyone actively making these? Sooo tired of these rechargable standard batteries.