Battery eliminator Battery Eliminator is a device used to convert high voltage alternating current into low voltage direct

current. A circuit arrangement is employed with which 220 volt alternating current is converted into 4 volt direct current. Since with the help of this appliance, the use of the battery is eliminated, therefore it is known as a battery eliminator. It consists of following parts :

Transformer : It is a device used to convert small alternating current at high voltage into low voltage alternating current or low voltage alternating current into high voltage alternating current. In our project step-down transformer is used. Rectifier : It is a device used to convert alternating current into direct current. Rectifier have two types. (i) Half wave rectifier

(ii) Full wave rectifier. In our project full wave rectifier is used which converts a full wave of alternating current into full wave of direct current. Transformer Transformer : The transformer is a device used for converting a low alternating voltage to a high alternating voltage or a high alternating voltage into a low alternating voltage. Principle : It is based on the principle of mutual induction that is if a varying current is set-up in a circuit induced e.m.f. is produced in the neighbouring circuit. The varying current in a circuit produce varying magnetic flux which induces e.m.f. in the neighbouring circuit. Step-down Transformer : In our project step-down transformer is used : This transformer converts high voltage at alternating current into low voltage alternating current. In step-down transformer the number of turns in primary coil remains large as compare to secondary coil.

Construction : The transformer consists of two coils. They are insulated with each other by insulated material and wound on a common core. For operation at low frequency, we may have a soft iron. The soft iron core is insulating by joining thin iron strips coated with varnish to insulate them to reduce energy losses by eddy currents. The input circuit is called primary. And the output circuit is called secondary. Theory : Suppose, the number of turns in the primary coil is NP and that in the secondary coil is NS. The resistance of the coil is assumed to be zero. Let dq/dt be the rate of change of flux in each turn of the primary coil. If Ep be the e.m.f. in the primary circuit then. EP = NP (1)

We suppose that there is no loss of flux between the primary and secondary coils. Then, the induced e.m.f. in the secondary coil will be : ES = NS From equations (i) and (ii), we find : (2)

Ns/Np = K is called transformer ratio or turn ratio. For step up transformer K > 1 For step down transformer K< 1 That is for step-up transformer NS > NP, therefore ES>EP. For the step down transformer NS < NP therefore ES < EP.

Efficiency : The efficiency of the transformer is given by :

If Ip and Is be the currents in the primary and secondary circuits.

For ideal transformer Therefore ESIS = EPIP or

= 1 = 100%.

Therefore, for step up, transformer current in the secondary is less than in the primary (IS < IP). And in a step down transformer we have IS > IP. Energy Losses in Transformer : In practice, the output energy of a transformer is always less than the input energy, because energy losses occur due to a number of reasons as explained below. 1. Loss of Magnetic Flux :

The coupling between the coils is seldom perfect. So, whole of the magnetic flux produced by the primary coil is not linked up with the secondary coil. 2. Iron Loss : In actual iron cores inspite of lamination, eddy currents are produced. The magnitude of eddy current may, however be small. And a part of energy is lost as the heat produced in the iron core. 3. Copper Loss : In practice, the coils of the transformer possess resistance. So a part of the energy is lost due to the heat produced in the resistance of the coil. 4. Hysteresis Loss : The alternating current in the coil tapes the iron core through complete cycle of magnetisation. So energy is lost due to hysteresis. 5. Magneto restriction : The alternating current in the transformer may be set its parts in to vibrations and sound may be produced. It is called humming. Thus, a part of energy may be lost due to humming. Rectifier Rectifier :

The rectifier is an electronic device used to convert alternating current to direct current. The P.N. Junction as Fuel Wave Rectifier. Full Wave Rectifier : It is a device used to convert full wave of alternating currents into full wave of direct current. Principle It is based on the principle that a crystal diode conduct only in forward bias and then an output current flows in the circuit. When D1 is forward biased, the D2 is reverse biased and vice-versa. The diode D1 and D2 send current through the load resistance in the same direction during both halves of the time period. This cause full wave rectification of the input power. Construction The full wave rectifier consists of two P-N junctions diodes connected to secondary part of the transformer. When input A.C. is applied across the primary coil (P) of a transformer. One terminal of the secondary coil (S) of the transformer is connected to the positive terminal of the junction diode D2. In the secondary part of the transformer a load resistance R1 is connected. The output is drawn across the two terminals of the load resistance. Working In case of a crystal diode as full-wave rectifier the two diodes D1 and D2 are used in such a way that during 0 to II crystal diode D1 becomes forward-bias and on output current I, flows similarly during next half cycle II and 2II crystal diode D2 becomes forward bias and on output current I2 flows in the circuit in this way a crystal diode converts full wave of alternating current into a full wave of direct current. Efficiency of Full Wave Rectifier : The efficiency of the full wave rectifier may be 80%.

working Working of a Battery Eliminator : A battery eliminator consist of mainly three working parts, transformer, Rectifier, Filter circuit. In our project step down transformer is used. This transformer converts high voltage alternating current into low voltage alternating current. This low voltage alternating current passes from rectifier which converts alternating current into direct current. In our project full wave rectifier is used. In full wave rectifier two diodes D1 and D2 are used in such a way that during 0 to II crystal diode D1 becomes forward - bias and an output current I, flow in circuit. Similarly during next half cycle II and 2II crystal diode D2 becomes forward bias and an output I2 flows in

the circuit. In this way a crystal diode converts full wave of alternating current into a full wave of direct current. The direct current which we get from rectifier output circuit is fluctuating direct current. In order to make it pure direct current filter circuit are used. In our project capacitor is used as a filter circuit. It is an electrolytic capacitor of capacity 16V, 1000 microfarad. The output now available is 4 volt direct current and it may be suitably connected with the transistor.

BATTERY ELIMINATOR Battery Eliminator is a device used to convert high voltage alternating current into low voltage direct current. A circuit arrangement is employed with which 220 volt alternating current is converted into 4 volt direct current. Since with the help of this appliance, the use of the battery is eliminated, therefore it is known as a battery eliminator. It consists of following parts :

TRANSFORMER : It is a device used to convert small alternating current at high voltage into low voltage alternating current or low voltage alternating current into high voltage alternating current. In our project step-down transformer is used.

RECTIFIER : It is a device used to convert alternating current into direct current. Rectifier have two types. (i) Half wave rectifier

(ii) Full wave rectifier. In our project full wave rectifier is used which converts a full wave of alternating current into full wave of direct current.

TRANSFORMER
TRANSFORMER : The transformer is a device used for converting a low alternating voltage to a high alternating voltage or a high alternating voltage into a low alternating voltage. PRINCIPLE : It is based on the principle of mutual induction that is if a varying current is set-up in a circuit induced e.m.f. is produced in the neighbouring circuit. The varying current in a circuit produce varying magnetic flux which induces e.m.f. in the neighbouring circuit. STEP-DOWN TRANSFORMER :

In our project step-down transformer is used : This transformer converts high voltage at alternating current into low voltage alternating current. In step-down transformer the number of turns in primary coil remains large as compare to secondary coil. CONSTRUCTION : The transformer consists of two coils. They are insulated with each other by insulated material and wound on a common core. For operation at low frequency, we may have a soft iron. The soft iron core is insulating by joining thin iron strips coated with varnish to insulate them to reduce energy losses by eddy currents. The input circuit is called primary. And the output circuit is called secondary. THEORY : Suppose, the number of turns in the primary coil is NP and that in the secondary coil is NS. The resistance of the coil is assumed to be zero. Let dq/dt be the rate of change of flux in each turn of the primary coil. If Ep be the e.m.f. in the primary circuit then.

EP = NP

(1)

We suppose that there is no loss of flux between the primary and secondary coils. Then, the induced e.m.f. in the secondary coil will be : ES = NS From equations (i) and (ii), we find : (2)

Ns/Np = K is called transformer ratio or turn ratio. For step up transformer K > 1 For step down transformer K< 1 That is for step-up transformer NS > NP, therefore ES>EP. For the step down transformer NS < NP therefore ES < EP.

Efficiency : The efficiency of the transformer is given by :

If Ip and Is be the currents in the primary and secondary circuits.

For ideal transformer Therefore ESIS = EPIP or

= 1 = 100%.

Therefore, for step up, transformer current in the secondary is less than in the primary (IS < IP). And in a step down transformer we have IS > IP. Energy Losses in Transformer : In practice, the output energy of a transformer is always less than the input energy, because energy losses occur due to a number of reasons as explained below. 1. Loss of Magnetic Flux : The coupling between the coils is seldom perfect. So, whole of the magnetic flux produced by the primary coil is not linked up with the secondary coil. 2. Iron Loss :

In actual iron cores inspite of lamination, eddy currents are produced. The magnitude of eddy current may, however be small. And a part of energy is lost as the heat produced in the iron core. 3. Copper Loss : In practice, the coils of the transformer possess resistance. So a part of the energy is lost due to the heat produced in the resistance of the coil. 4. Hysteresis Loss : The alternating current in the coil tapes the iron core through complete cycle of magnetisation. So energy is lost due to hysteresis. 5. Magneto restriction : The alternating current in the transformer may be set its parts in to vibrations and sound may be produced. It is called humming. Thus, a part of energy may be lost due to humming.

RECTIFIER
Rectifier : The rectifier is an electronic device used to convert alternating current to direct current.

The P.N. Junction as Fuel Wave Rectifier. Full Wave Rectifier : It is a device used to convert full wave of alternating currents into full wave of direct current.

PRINCIPLE
It is based on the principle that a crystal diode conduct only in forward bias and then an output current flows in the circuit. When D1 is forward biased, the D2 is reverse biased and vice-versa. The diode D1 and D2 send current through the load resistance in the same direction during both halves of the time period. This cause full wave rectification of the input power.

CONSTRUCTION
The full wave rectifier consists of two P-N junctions diodes connected to secondary part of the transformer. When input A.C. is applied across the primary coil (P) of a transformer. One terminal of the secondary coil (S) of the transformer is connected to the positive terminal of the junction diode D2. In the secondary part of the

transformer a load resistance R1 is connected. The output is drawn across the two terminals of the load resistance.

WORKING
In case of a crystal diode as full-wave rectifier the two diodes D1 and D2 are used in such a way that during 0 to II crystal diode D1 becomes forward-bias and on output current I, flows similarly during next half cycle II and 2II crystal diode D2 becomes forward bias and on output current I2 flows in the circuit in this way a crystal diode converts full wave of alternating current into a full wave of direct current. EFFICIENCY OF FULL WAVE RECTIFIER : The efficiency of the full wave rectifier may be 80%.

WORKING
Working of a Battery Eliminator : A battery eliminator consist of mainly three working parts, transformer, Rectifier, Filter circuit. In our project step down transformer is used. This transformer converts high voltage alternating current into low voltage alternating current. This low voltage alternating current passes from rectifier which

converts alternating current into direct current. In our project full wave rectifier is used. In full wave rectifier two diodes D1 and D2 are used in such a way that during 0 to II crystal diode D1 becomes forward - bias and an output current I, flow in circuit. Similarly during next half cycle II and 2II crystal diode D2 becomes forward bias and an output I2 flows in the circuit. In this way a crystal diode converts full wave of alternating current into a full wave of direct current. The direct current which we get from rectifier output circuit is fluctuating direct current. In order to make it pure direct current filter circuit are used. In our project capacitor is used as a filter circuit. It is an electrolytic capacitor of capacity 16V, 1000 microfarad. The output now available is 4 volt direct current and it may be suitably connected with the transistor.

Battery Eliminator Circuits (BECs)

Version 1.01 29-Jul-04

1. Introduction

A typical fighting robot consists of a powerful main battery powering motors via a speed controller, and a radio control receiver which controls the speed controller. The radio control receiver also needs its own battery to power it. A battery eliminator circuit (BEC) eliminates the need for the radio control receiver's battery, by powering it from the main battery. This has the advantage of removing one battery from the robot, but has the potential to reduce or even destroy the effectiveness of the radio control system.

2. How a BEC / voltage regulator works

A BEC circuit is typically just a voltage regulator which convertes the 12V or higher voltage of the main battery down to the (typically) 5V required by the radio control receiver. These voltage regulators are cheap off-the-shelf electronic components. They generally have three terminals, an input voltage, a 0V reference pin, and the output voltage.

The capacitors either side of the regulator smooth out any ripples in the voltages. The capacitor to the right is an integral part of the regulator's feedback circuit as we shall see. So what is inside one of these regulators. A simplified circuit diagram is shown below:

On the right hand side, a reference voltage is produced using (in this case) a zener diode. This voltage is compared with a sample of the output voltage produced by the resistor potential

divider. If the sample output voltage is greater than the reference voltage, then the opamp increases the voltage at the base of the pass transistor, and the transistor turns off a little, thereby dropping more voltage across it, and leaving less voltage on the right hand side of it. Therefore the circuit will correct itself if the output voltage increases above the required voltage. Conversely, if the output voltage drops a bit, the opamp's output will decrease and the pass transistor will turn on a bit more, thereby increasing the output voltage again. In any negative feedback loop like this, there is an issue of stability. The subject of stability is covered in the page on power servos, which you may like to look at now. Whether the loop is stable or not depends on the amount of gain (how much the opamp is amplifying by), and any filtering in the loop. In the top diagram, you can see that there is a capacitor on the right hand side of the voltage regulator. This affects how quickly the output voltage can change. The higher the capacitance, the slower the voltage can change, and the slower the feedback loop will respond to errors at the output voltage. This has a great effect on how well a BEC will work in a fighting robot as we shall see.

3. Problems with noise

In the absence of any noise, the BEC circuit presented above will provide a perfect, steady voltage to drive the radio control receiver. If the receiver pulls a little more current, the voltage will momentarily drop but the regulator will compensate for that and maintain the voltage at the required level.

3.1. Ground bounce

However, the circuits above assume that the ground wire has zero resistance. What happens if this is not the case (as of course it is not in any circuit in the real world)? An example of what can happen when this is the case is presented here. If we are powering the radio control receiver off the main battery, and the speed controller draws a large current to power the motors, then the voltage on the ground line will increase, and the voltage on the Vin line will decrease. The voltage regulator in the BEC will compensate for this, but as explained in the section above, it has a response time before it can do this. Until that response time has elapsed, the voltage at the output of the voltage regulator (Vout) will decrease by the same amount as Vin decreased, and of course the voltage on the ground line will increase too. Inside the radio control receiver, this 'pulse' of the supply voltage is likely to be conducted into the analogue and digital stages. In the analogue stage, it may distort the received signal, and in the digital stage it may corrupt a digital level - i.e. cause a gate to output a 1 result instead of a 0 or vice versa. In the worst case it could cause a servo position to swing wildly to one extreme for a short period of time.

3.1. High frequencies

The response time of the voltage regulator means that if we inject a high frequency AC voltage on top of the DC voltage at the input of the voltage regulator, rather than responding to the increases and decreases of the input voltage, the regulator will simply let the AC voltage through:

The motors and speed controller in a robot are the largest generators of electrical noise. The noise produced will be at frequencies from near DC right up to several tens of megaHertz. Any noise at around the 40MHz radio frequency will cause the receiver to decode that in addition to the signal from the antenna (which is already at a very low signal strength). This is a very common cause of bad radio communications in fighting robots. Some BEC circuits I have seen attempt to reduce the effect of high frequency noise by inserting a series inductor in the supply path to the regulator. This will have little effect unless you are either lucky or strict precautions are taken with the circuit layout and the inductor used. It is likely that a 40MHz noise signal will simply bypass the inductor due to the capacitance between each turn of the inductor coil:

Of course an inductor in the supply line does not solve any conducted interference or line-bounce problems.

4. Separating the supplies

So what can be done about it? The best solution of all is to disconnect the power circuitry which is generating all this noise from the receiver and electronics circuitry which is susceptible to the noise. That is, avoid battery eliminator circuits. That is a general rule of thumb which is virtually guaranteed to solve many of your comms problems. However, if you really insist on using just one battery in your robot, there are alternatives.

4.1. DC-DC converters

DC to DC converters are similar to voltage regulators, but differ in one great respect - isolation. When converting AC voltages, a transformer is used. Transformers are electrically isolated from one side to the other. This is because the input energy is converted to magnetic energy, and then back to electrical energy again at the output. A DC-DC converter first converts the input DC voltage to AC, then shifts the voltage of this using a transformer. Finally, the transformer's AC output voltage is rectified back to a DC voltage. The ground terminal on the input side is not electrically connected to the ground terminal on the output side.

Using a DC-DC converter may solve some of your problems, but the circuits inside them still have response times, and any high frequency noise on the input may well be transmitted through to the output side. Given this, I cannot recommend using them.

4.2. Separate batteries

The best and simplest solution is to use two separate batteries. One often-quoted disadvantage of this method is that the receiver battery may become discharged and forgotten about. Well that is part of the responsibility of being in a fighting robot team - to have a written checklist of things that are required to do between bouts. Removing the receiver battery to recharge it may be difficult. In this case, it is quite easy to have a removeable link that can recharge the receiver battery from the main battery. This link could even be integrated into the main power

removeable link that is required under most fighting robot league's rules. An example circuit is shown below.

In this configuration, the left hand switch is closed and the right hand one is open (they are both part of the same QPDT switch). The NiCd is charged through the 160 resistor, and the receiver itself is disconnected. The resistor value should be chosen to supply about 110mA to the NiCd. It's value should be the main battery voltage minus the NiCd voltage divided by 110mA. The voltage drop across this resistor is used to light the 'Charging' LED. When the battery is fully charged, the switch is thrown the other way:

In this configuration, the main battery is completely disconnected, and the receiver battery powers the receiver. Since there is no current passing through the 160 resistor, the LED is not lit.

The Battery Eliminator Circuit

The Battery Eliminator Circuit, or BEC, is one of the tools at our disposal to reduce weight in our electric models. A typical four-cell 600mAh nickel cadmium (NiCd) battery supplied with most radio systems weighs about 3.3 oz (94 g), a significant fraction of the weight of a typical beginner's electric model (such as a Great Planes ElectriCub or Spectra). Lighter batteries are available, but with the trend towards even smaller and lighter models, even a 1.5 to 2 oz (43 to 57 g) battery is too much to carry. The model will still fly, but it's flight characteristics will be compromised. The BEC lets us eliminate the receiver battery, using the motor battery to provide power to the radio system instead. This has some ramifications as to where and how we can use a BEC, and of course, it also means we can't use BEC in a glow powered model, or a pure sailplane.

How it Works
Typically, the BEC is part of electronic speed control (ESC) which acts as the motor's throttle. Conceptually, it is completely separate from the part of the ESC which controls the motor speed, although the two parts do interact somewhat, and share some of the same wiring. Figure 1 shows the components of a typical power system, and how it relates to the internal arrangement of a BEC-equipped ESC.

Figure 1. A block diagram of a typical BEC-equipped ESC. Click to enlarge.

The BEC supplies power to the receiver through the same lead from which it gets the throttle signal. Each channel connector on the receiver has a plus, minus, and signalpin. Power can be supplied via the plus and minus pins of any channel; it is not necessary to connect to the receiver's "Batt" connector (many small receivers intended for use in BEC equipped models don't even have a "Batt" connector).

Notice that both the throttle and the BEC components of the ESC are connected to the power wires coming from the battery. Furthermore, both perform very similar functions, but do so in very different ways. The throttle controls how much power reaches the motor, and it does this by turning the power to the motor on and off at a high rate of speed (about 1,500 to 3,000 times per second in most modern ESCs, or 50 times per second in the now obsolete frame-rate ESCs). The amount of power that the motor sees depends on the fraction of the time that the power is on. At full throttle, it is on all the time. At a partial throttle setting, it is on part of the time.
This Great Planes unit incorporates a receiver, and an ESC with BEC, all in one small package.

The BEC on the other hand controls how much power reaches the receiver and servos. Unlike the throttle, whose purpose is to vary the effective voltage reaching the motor, the BEC must maintain a fixed voltage with which to supply the radio system, and it must do so under varying motor battery voltage and servo loads. Furthermore, the power supplied to the receiver must be "clean". There can be no electrical noise or voltage fluctuations. That is a tall order considering that the power source (the battery) is also supplying the electrically-noisy motor.

Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power

A common theme in this column is the relationship between voltage, current, and power. This is because almost everything in electric flight depends on this relationship. Recall that power is equal to current times voltage, or P = I x V. Another important relationship is Ohm's law, which states that voltage equals current times resistance, or V = I x R. The BEC's job is to reduce the voltage of the motor battery (typically 7 to 12 Volts) to that required by the radio system (5 Volts), while meeting the varying current requirements of the receiver and servos. A simplified BEC circuit is shown in Figure 2. Assuming that the radio and servos are drawing a fixed amount of current, we can calculate a setting for the variable resistor so that the receiver sees 5 Volts. For example, if the battery voltage were 9.6 Volts, and the receiver and servos were drawing 0.2 Amps of current continuously, we could plug the voltage difference (9.6 - 5) and the current (0.2) into Ohms law, giving 4.6 = 0.2 x R. We can solve this for R, which gives 23 Ohms.

Figure 2. If the battery voltage and radio system current remained constant, a simple resistor would suffice as a

BEC.

This simple circuit has two drawbacks. One is that a particular resistance is only correct if both the current draw and the battery voltage remain constant. The other problem is that the current multiplied by the voltage difference represents power lost in the resistor in the form of heat (P = I x V). The first problem is easily circumvented by using a device called a linear voltage regulator, which basically functions as a resistance that changes its value as the battery voltage or current demand changes, keeping the output voltage at a constant 5 Volts. A few additional components (capacitors) filter out electrical noise on both the input and output side of the regulator.

Figure 3. The linear regulator circuit from the BEC of one of my ESC designs. Click to enlarge.

The more serious problem is heat. In our example, the power to be dissipated as heat is 0.2 Amps times 4.6 Volts, or 0.92 Watts. We will need a 1 Watt resistor, and it will get quite warm. However, suppose that the current goes up to 0.4 Amps for a while (for example, while pulling out of a dive, the elevator servo will be working very hard, and require more current). This will require a different resistance to maintain 5 Volts, but that has already been taken care of by using a voltage regulator instead. The heat power loss is now 0.4 x 4.6, or 1.84 Watts. That is a significant amount of heat for a tiny voltage regulator to get rid of, and it will get quite warm trying to do so. It is this need to dissipate the voltage difference, multiplied by the current demand, as heat, that causes ESC manufacturers to put restrictions on BEC use. These restrictions specify the maximum number of cells (i.e. maximum battery voltage) and the maximum number of servos (i.e. maximum current demand) that can be used with the BEC.
A Better Way?

The astute reader may have wondered how the throttle is capable of providing reduced power to the motor at much higher currents than the BEC provides power to the radio, yet not suffer from overheating problems. The answer lies in the on/off switching that the throttle performs.

Rather than providing a lower voltage for reduced throttle operation, the throttle simply switches the full voltage on and off at a high rate. This way, the throttle is either conducting full current with no voltage difference between the battery and motor (so I x V equals zero), or no current at all (so I x V is still zero). Hence, no power is dissipated as heat within the throttle (in reality, some power is still lost because the throttle does not have zero resistance). It is theoretically possible to do something similar for a BEC voltage regulator, using a circuit called a switching regulator. However, such circuits are relatively large, heavy, and expensive. It is also difficult to design a switching regulator that can produce clean enough power to reliably operate the radio receiver. A linear regulator is much cheaper, and sufficient for most applications.

BEC Ratings
Now that we know that a BEC is limited by its ability to shed heat, and that the amount of heat generated is equal to the product of the current, and the input-output voltage difference, we can see why most manufacturers rate their ESCs with BEC as to the maximum number of cells and/or servos that can be used. The more cells there are in the battery, the higher the BEC input voltage, and hence the higher the voltage difference between the input and the 5 Volt output. And, the more servos being used, the higher the average current draw. A typical ESC with BEC might be rated as follows:
Standard Micro Servos High Torque Servos 5-6 Cells 7-8 Cells 9-10 Cells 11-16 Cells 4 4 3 No BEC 4 3 2 No BEC

Notice that as the number of cells increases, the number of servos permitted decreases. That way, as the voltage difference goes up, the expected current draw goes down. Beyond 11 cells (for this example), the BEC cannot be used at all because the voltage difference is too high to safely supply any significant amount of current.

In any model, but especially in a BEC equipped one, it is important to ensure that all control surfaces move freely. If a control surface or pushrod sticks or binds, the servos have to work harder, and they will draw much more current. This can cause the BEC's regulator to overheat and shut down, resulting in loss of radio control. A sure sign of such a problem is a servo that hums or chatters when a control stick is held at full deflection.

Motor Cut-off

In a typical electric flight, the motor battery is dead or nearly dead by the end of the flight. This is very undesirable if the motor battery is also supplying power to the receiver and servos, since you would no longer be able to control the model. For this reason, all BEC-equipped model aircraft ESCs have a motor cut-off feature which turns off power to the motor when the battery is running low, leaving enough power to operate the radio system for some time. This means that the BEC must be able to "tell" the throttle to turn off the motor, which is represented by the dotted line in Figure 1. Because the receiver and servos take far less power than the motor, cutting off the power even 10 seconds before the battery is dead will reserve many minutes of radio system power. The problem is knowing when the battery is almost dead. Some of the programmable digital ESCs (such as those by Castle Creations) offer a user selectable cut-off voltage. Some older analog ESCs (such as the ones produced by Lofty Pursuits, or the one whose construction I described in the July 1999 issue of Sailplane & Electric Modeler) have adjustable cut-off voltages (Lofty Pursuits' by a user-installed resistor, mine by a small potentiometer). In order to know what to set the cut-off voltage to, you need to know what the battery voltage will be with the motor running when there are only a few seconds of power left. This is best determined by running the motor at full throttle on the ground, monitoring the voltage, and noting what it was a 10 or 15 seconds before the power drop-off at the end. Many inexpensive speed controls have a fixed cut-off voltage that was chosen to work with the minimum number of cells the speed control is rated for. Usually this is 5.5 Volts, for use with a 6-cell battery (5.5 Volts is also the lowest input voltage at which the regulator can produce a 5 Volt output). Unfortunately, this cut-off

The Castle Creations Phoenix 25 brushless ESC provides a BEC when used with 5 to 10 cells.

A BEC-equipped analog ESC. The cut-off voltage in this design is set by a trimmer potentiometer.

voltage is too low when operating with 7 or more cells. For example, a 10-cell battery at 5.5 Volt very likely has only a few seconds of radio system power left in it. Ironically, this is less of a problem with an inexpensive battery than with a costly pack of matched cells. In the inexpensive battery, the voltage will drop this low when a few of the cells are completely dead, and the remainder still have some useful charge left. In a matched pack, the voltage will only drop this low when all the cells become almost depleted, all at the same time. Some ESCs, like the one on my website (www.stefanv.com/rcstuff/escbec.htm) don't have a sudden cut-off at all. Instead, as the battery voltage drops, the ESC automatically reduces the throttle to take some of the load off the battery, keeping the voltage above the cut-off level. The reduction in power makes the pilot aware that time is running out and that it's time to land.
Lithium Considerations

Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer batteries have the special requirement that they not be discharged too low (3 Volts per cell under load). You must use an ESC that will cut-off the power before that level is reached, or cell damage will occur.
Restart

Most digital ESCs have an after-cut-off restart feature, which is usually activated by moving the throttle stick to off after the motor stops, and then applying partial throttle again. This can give you an extra bit of power to stretch that final approach and make the runway. Do not be tempted to eke a few extra seconds of flying out of this feature, or you risk depleting the battery too far to keep the radio system working.
Electric Sailplanes

In general, it is not advisable to use a BEC in a sailplane. The motor cut-off in a BEC-equipped ESC is intended to provide a few minutes of radio power in order to land the plane, whereas a sailplane can be expected to stay airborne for many minutes, or even hours, after motor shutdown. If you do use a BEC, never run the motor for so long that the BEC shuts it off. It's probably best not to use more than two-thirds of the motor battery's capacity, ensuring that you have plenty of radio power left for a long silent flight.

Battery eliminator
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A battery eliminator is a device powered by an electrical source other than a battery, which then converts the source to a suitable DCvoltage that may be used by a second device designed to be powered by batteries. A battery eliminator eliminates the need to replace batteries but may remove the advantage of portability. A battery eliminator is also effective in replacing obsolete battery designs. Some examples of battery eliminators:
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9v mains power supply, size and shape of a PP9 battery, intended to replace the battery in portable radios. 1960s Solar panel providing power for a portable appliance

History
Early commercial battery eliminators were produced by Edward S. Rogers, Sr. company in 1925, as a complement to his line of "batteryless" radio receivers. Another early producer of battery eliminators was the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (later known as Motorola) which was opened on September 25, 1928 by Paul Galvin and his brother Joseph E. Galvin, to build battery eliminators for radio receivers installed in automobiles. While it might seem surprising to use such a device in a car to power a radio, the first car radio receivers were based on vacuum tube technology which required two or three different voltages to function:
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LT, typically 4 or 6.3 volts at high current to power the filaments HT, typically 100 to 300 volts at low current to power the anode circuitry Additional voltages were sometimes also required for grid bias.

Batteries designed for these portable vacuum tube receivers were a combination of several different battery types and sizes, combined in a single package and intended to slowly wear out at about the same rate. The battery typically connected to the radio via a specially shaped four- or five-pin connector, keyed so that the plug must be inserted correctly. A battery eliminator would take the typical 6-volt or 12-volt DC power from a car battery and transform it into the required LT and HT needed to power the vacuum tubes in a car radio. Without a battery eliminator, it was necessary to occasionally replace the battery pack in the vacuum-tube car radio.

Principle of working
Although a battery eliminator works without a battery, it has to be charged by some device, preferably a battery. The battery eliminator can also be used to charge the rechargeable automobile batteries. The cathode of a battery is attached to anode of the eliminator & battery anode to the eliminator cathode, in case of battery charging. In case of providing the eliminator with energy, battery anode is connected to eliminator anode & battery cathode to eliminator cathode. This charges the eliminator, which can be used in place of the battery to power some external device. The connections are same as that in case of a battery.

Battery eliminator circuit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A battery eliminator circuit (BEC) is an electronic circuit designed to deliver electrical power to other circuitry without the need for a battery. Historically the expression was sometimes used to describe devices used to power battery-driven equipment from mains electricity. This is still the case in many products offered in retail electronic supply stores such as Radio Shack.

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1Studio photography 2Radio-controlled (R/C) models 3Vehicles 4External links

Studio photography
Tripod-mounted cameras in photography studios are often use a BEC to avoid having to interrupt lengthy shooting sessions to replace batteries. The use of the tripod can also interfere with access to the battery hatch.

Radio-controlled (R/C) models

In an electric-powered radio controlled model, the BEC is typically part of the electronic speed control (ESC). BEC allows such a model to carry only one battery (the motive power battery) instead of two (motive power, and a separate battery to operate the R/C equipment). A BECequipped ESC meant for airplane use often incorporates a low-voltage-cutoff (LVC) circuit

which can sense the voltage drop caused when the battery has little charge left in it. It then cuts the power to the 'drive' motor in order to provide the 'steering' servo(s) with enough power to be able to bring the model safely back to the operator. The power to the propeller would be cut but the operation of the control surfaces would be maintained in order to perform a dead-stick landing. Without this feature, all control would be lost when the battery expired, probably resulting in the destruction of the model. In some cases, the BEC is part of the radio control receiver, instead of being part of the ESC. R/C BECs in their simplest form use a linear fixed voltage regulator with its standard circuit suggested in the manufacturers datasheet - usually the power supply of the receiver needs 5 V. Low drop types are preferred - especially for batteries with only a few cells. For small models 1.5 to 2 A are enough, for mid-size models a 3A type needs to be considered. BEC's for large models have to provide current of 5A or more. Here a more complicated switched mode regulator should be used, as the BEC has to deal with losses. These Losses are proportional to the difference of the target voltage of 5 volts and the voltage of the main battery, as well as they are proportional to the provided current. For example a 10 cell (NiMh) accumulator with a normal voltage of 12 volts. With a peak current of 5A the BEC will have losses of (12V-5V)*5A = 35W. With a linear regulator these 35W will be converted to heat and so require a large heat sink. In all cases it is a good idea to mount some large capacitors to buffer the regulated output. In large plane or ship models another possibility is to buffer the power supply with a further capacitor near the actuators (Servos).

Vehicles
BECs are also used in some motorcycle and ATV applications to reduce the weight penalty involved in carrying a battery. The battery is typically replaced by one or more large but lightweight capacitors which smooth out the fluctuating electrical pulses coming from the alternator, without themselves generating power. As there is no electrical power source, electrical starters cannot be used.