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9000 Farads for Mato

A project log for Little Friend

This companion robot, 9000 farads of super capacitance, spends less than eight minutes feeding--then 75 minutes or more she can be a buddy.

mike-rigsbyMike Rigsby 06/13/2016 at 18:540 Comments

Mato, with 1750 farads, could run for more than 15 minutes of continuous movement--eyes blinking and such.

Today, the UPS person delivered a new energy source; three 3000 farad capacitors.

I'm going to put on my "Citizen Scientist" hat to measure and analyze the pros and cons of capacitors versus batteries. I've used these before, starting in 2009 when I built and documented a flashlight. This still operates today.

Getting a bit bolder, I took twelve 350 farad capacitors and combined them with a hand crank generator to make a human powered desk light. I've been using these capacitors since 2009 (I had the hand crank generator, an inverter, the capacitors and a light at the 2009 San Mateo Maker Faire--I also did a presentation on ultracaps). This light is in my workroom and I crank it for three minutes or so every day (trying to keep my arms from turning to pure flab).

Think of a phone or pad that charges in 60 seconds instead of hours. We're not there . . . yet.

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