Power choices for Field Point

[ChrisUMBC]

I need to power the Fieldpoint system with a battery for an onboard data aquisition system for a small all- terrain vehicle. Has anyone had any luck with any batteries? The system doesnt have to run a long time...maybe 15 minutes MAX. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP with my SENIOR ENGINEERING PROJECT!

[Aaron_G]

Chris,

You will probably want to look at marine style batteries. In this, I mean batteries intended for longer duration applications in which the battery will be substantially drained before recharging. This is commonly seen in the batteries for electric boat motots. If I recall correctly, these batteries are called deep cycle batteries (although it has been about 6 years since my senior marine field project that had me looking at these type of batteries for my groups use).

The FieldPoint systems are designed to accept 11-30 VDC inputs, so using a 12 V, 18 V, or 24 V battery is generally acceptable. Make sure to choose the battery capacity such that the power consumption from the FieldPoint unit Pnetworkmodule+efficiencyfactor*(Sum of Piomodules) and the po
wer consumption of any sensors, motors, etc... will result in your desired run-time.

Since batteries generally output less voltage as they drain (again proper battery choices will limit this), you are better off choosing an 18 V or 24 V battery so that the FieldPoint system does not lose power prematurely.

Regards,
Aaron