Power is a problem. You always need it, but you don't always have a mains supply. So
this regulator, originally designed as part of the
Tech2 festival in
2002, was developed to solve the problem. It is able to regulate the variable voltage
from a battery down to a constant voltage – for powering equipment like
laptops.
The Tech2 Regulator is a variable voltage regulator designed for powering equipment
from a battery pack. Most digital equipment functions at a wide range of non-standard
voltages – from 7 volts (V) to 22V. These require a mains adapter. So if you want
to go mobile, beyond the mains, creating these various voltages can be difficult. One
option is to use a standard 12V or 24V battery and a mains inverter. But this actually
is quite wasteful. You lose 10% of the energy in the inverter, and the power supplies
for most low-voltage equipment may often consume as much power as the equipment
itself.
Converting from a fixed battery voltage down to a pre-set DC voltage is more efficient
(around 95% - 98%). But to do this you need a regulator. The Tech2 Regulator is
designed to produce DC voltages from 5V up to 32V, using different 'packs' of batteries
producing a nominal voltage of 12V, 18V, 24V, 30V or 36V. This is more efficient
because the regulator need only regulate the voltage between 3V to 10V of the battery
voltage, wasting less energy in the process.
The information on the Tech2 regulator is split into three parts:
– a technical guide to what the Tech2 Regulator is and how it works. The purpose
of this section is to provide sufficient information for a person to develop their
own version of the Tech2 Regulator.
–
an implementation of the Tech2 Regulator, in fact the design prototype, utilising a
mixture of new and recovered parts (including an simple, scrap enclosure to mount the
regulator in).
– a table of the components required to build the Tech2 Regulator, and how to
obtain them. This looks at the opportunity to obtain the components from junk as well
as new.
Salvage Server Project 'Junk Ideas' No.3
Power is a problem. You always need it, but you don't always have a mains supply. So
this regulator, originally designed as part of the
Tech2 festival in
2002, was developed to solve the problem. It is able to regulate the variable voltage
from a battery down to a constant voltage – for powering equipment like
laptops.