Abstract
The weak link in mobile robots at present is the battery. A typical robotic device for consumer applications contains a 1kWh battery which runs down with time. Also, the battery requires swapping or lengthy recharging after each shift. The purpose of this paper is to discuss battery extension by adding an mSOFC generator running on propane. This keeps the battery at a high voltage, removing deep discharge problems, while giving a factor 10 longer running time with rapid turnaround because the on-board propane tank can be swapped in 1 minute. An international research project was initiated in 2016 to develop these ideas under the heading PERT (PODS: Extending Robot Traction). This paper describes results from the first 12 months of the project and shows that mSOFCs operating on small mobile robots can give substantial benefits in several applications. The alternative is to stack several batteries on the robot. This paper shows that extra battery weight increases the energy expenditure in a predictable way, demonstrating that the battery hybridised with lightweight fuel cell plus fuel is beneficial.
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