Mission Possible C

[absolutezerok3]

What type of battery are you using? We kinda need to know that to help you...

data sheet: http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/media/R ... 20941.ashx

That battery may not be the strongest, but may be able to work. We need more information - what are you trying to power and how do you have your tasks wired.

So far all I did was hook up the battery to a breadboard then ran a transistor for the water task and connected that to a LED to a photocell that switches a relay to burn some nichrome wire. In this order the relay doesn't switch but it does when the photocell+relay are directly connected to the battery. Even when the relay switches the nichrome wire won't heat up, although it does when directly connected to the battery.

I still need to attach a sound recorder and my ir beacon so I definitely need to have more current.

[dmis]

data sheet: http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/media/R ... 20941.ashx

That battery may not be the strongest, but may be able to work. We need more information - what are you trying to power and how do you have your tasks wired.

So far all I did was hook up the battery to a breadboard then ran a transistor for the water task and connected that to a LED to a photocell that switches a relay to burn some nichrome wire. In this order the relay doesn't switch but it does when the photocell+relay are directly connected to the battery. Even when the relay switches the nichrome wire won't heat up, although it does when directly connected to the battery.

I still need to attach a sound recorder and my ir beacon so I definitely need to have more current.

If the internal resistance of the battery limiting the current is truly your problem, the only options I can think of are trying a different battery, or adding a switch to turn off earlier functions when you turn on later ones. The Nichrome wire likely draws a lot of current, the led or relay not so much. It seems very odd to me thought that a led and a transistor would draw enough current in parallel to reduce the voltage available to the nichrome wire. Maybe you could attach a schematic of how you have it wired? Perhaps the relay is wired wrong? Try simplifying - can you get the nichrome to heat through the relay with nothing else connected?

[ftf841]

If we have an arduino already doing the exothermic task, does plugging the arduino 5v power into something like a breadboard and using that 5v power to do other tasks voilate the rules? Technically, the 5v power isn't an "Adjustable device."

[nicholasmaurer]

If we have an arduino already doing the exothermic task, does plugging the arduino 5v power into something like a breadboard and using that 5v power to do other tasks voilate the rules? Technically, the 5v power isn't an "Adjustable device."

I'd stay away from this. You have a valid argument, but I think it is ambiguous. Additionally, less-knowledgeable event supervisors may not know enough about Arduinos and their pins to distinguish between using an Arduino to power something and using the Arduino to control something.

[davecutting]

If we have an arduino already doing the exothermic task, does plugging the arduino 5v power into something like a breadboard and using that 5v power to do other tasks voilate the rules? Technically, the 5v power isn't an "Adjustable device."

I'd stay away from this. You have a valid argument, but I think it is ambiguous. Additionally, less-knowledgeable event supervisors may not know enough about Arduinos and their pins to distinguish between using an Arduino to power something and using the Arduino to control something.

Agreed. We've got a separate 5V power supply for each transfer on our device. The only wires that connect between any two transfers on our device are trigger pins, battery, and ground. You should have a way to make it abundantly clear that this is the case on your device for the ES.

EDIT: Many power supplies are in fact, adjustable. Not the ones on the arduino, but there's plenty in the same SMD package that have an adjust pin in place of ground.

[Ash123]

If we use a commercial speaker-photocell set up that was used for music boxes, would the battery on it still count towards the battery bonus? Or are batteries used in commercial parts (as in not visible through a casing)/ batteries used for the final action exempt from the battery bonus?

[absolutezerok3]

If we use a commercial speaker-photocell set up that was used for music boxes, would the battery on it still count towards the battery bonus? Or are batteries used in commercial parts (as in not visible through a casing)/ batteries used for the final action exempt from the battery bonus?

I think that that would still be considered as multiple power sources even though it is inbuilt. In order to get the 100pt bonus, you can only have one power sources, so this setup would be powered by another power source. I'm sure that there is no distinction between the commercial and homemade setups.

[ScottMaurer19]

If we use a commercial speaker-photocell set up that was used for music boxes, would the battery on it still count towards the battery bonus? Or are batteries used in commercial parts (as in not visible through a casing)/ batteries used for the final action exempt from the battery bonus?

I think that that would still be considered as multiple power sources even though it is inbuilt. In order to get the 100pt bonus, you can only have one power sources, so this setup would be powered by another power source. I'm sure that there is no distinction between the commercial and homemade setups.

Phones are considered as having an additional battery (not to mention they violate the battery policy because they have lithium batteries) so having another battery of any sort still counts as having more than one.

[Ash123]

Does everything in an action need to stop for the action to be considered complete? Like if I use a motor for some action and the task is accomplished but the motor keeps going, which doesn’t affect the action, is that okay? Or if I fill up a balloon with a gas and after the balloon strikes an object it keeps going, is that okay?

[Ash123]

Does everything in an action need to stop for the action to be considered complete? Like if I use a motor for some action and the task is accomplished but the motor keeps going, which doesn’t affect the action, is that okay? Or if I fill up a balloon with a gas and after the balloon strikes an object it rising, is that okay?