Mindstorms rechargeable battery pack question

[nebraska]

Hey guys, I recently took a dive into the mindstorms world. Does the rechargeable battery pack allow the NXT to stay connected to a wall outlet while in use so I maintain a constant source of power? Or does the power cord have to be disconnected to put the batteries back on the NXT? If it does have to be disconnected and run on batteries alone is there any after market power sources that allows a constant flow of power? Thanks for any help.

[DLuders]

@ nebraska: Are you talking about the 9798 Rechargeable Battery (pictured below)?

It turns out that there are "old" and "new" versions -- an Alternating Current (AC) version and a Direct Current (DC) version: http://www.hightechkids.org/sites/default/files/CoachingLibrary/How%20to%20Identify%20NXT%20AC%20and%20DC%20%20Battery%20Packs%20and%20Power%20Chargers%5B1%5D.pdf . Which one are you talking about?

ashermehul123 posted this

-- "This is a method to power the Lego NXT brick using a power supply, (No batteries). The circuit consists of 100VAC to 9VDC, 1.5A adapter and DC voltage regulator circuit using 7809. This method can be used in cases when NXT brick is stationed at one place or while testing the programs of the NXT. Helps to avoid the use of batteries, Green and cheap method that can be used. :)"

Edited February 12, 2012 by DLuders

[BManCan]

Hey guys, I recently took a dive into the mindstorms world. Does the rechargeable battery pack allow the NXT to stay connected to a wall outlet while in use so I maintain a constant source of power? Or does the power cord have to be disconnected to put the batteries back on the NXT? If it does have to be disconnected and run on batteries alone is there any after market power sources that allows a constant flow of power? Thanks for any help.

You can install the rechargeable battery into the NXT brick and have it plugged into the charger at the same time. This allows your NXT creations to run indefinitely.

[Mud]

You can install the rechargeable battery into the NXT brick and have it plugged into the charger at the same time. This allows your NXT creations to run indefinitely.

I don't think this would be very good for the battery though - I think occasional charge/discharge cycles are required for Li-ion batteries to keep them healthy in the medium-term. Since the battery wouldn't be doing much in this setup, I think it'd be better to bypass it.

[Burf2000]

I always wanted to to make a robot navigate to the plug pin and charge itself :)