Practical miniature hydrogen gas cell powers RC truck

Automobiles powered by hydrogen gas cells mix the advantages of battery-powered electrical automobiles and inner combustion engines (ICEs). You get the environmental and efficiency advantages of electrical energy, with the identical refueling comfort as you get with ICE automobiles. However for many of us, hydrogen gas cells are nonetheless mysterious and unattainable. In actuality, you should buy one proper now. To display how sensible they’re, Alfonso Delgado Ollero constructed a miniature hydrogen gas cell to energy an RC truck.

Hydrogen combines with oxygen within the air to provide water. Because it does, it additionally produces electrical energy and we are able to use that electrical energy to energy gadgets and even automobiles. The one causes hydrogen gas cell automobiles aren’t widespread are that it takes plenty of vitality to provide the hydrogen within the first place and the vitality density is comparatively low. These sensible issues are related when speaking about the way forward for the automotive business, however they shouldn’t forestall makers from experimenting with hydrogen gas cells. You should purchase small hydrogen gas cells, just like the 12W unit used on this mission, from on-line retailers for lower than $700. You can even buy cartridges of hydrogen and even make your personal via electrolysis (learn up on the protection precautions first).

Whereas this mission makes use of an off-the-shelf hydrogen gas cell, it nonetheless wanted one thing to regulate the operation and energy output. An Arduino Nano board displays the working voltage and shuts the system down whether it is operating too lengthy or in an open circuit. It additionally prompts a pump when essential to purge the water that accumulates because the hydrogen bonds with oxygen. To stabilize the voltage output from the hydrogen gas cell, a DC-to-DC buck converter feeds electrical energy at a relentless voltage to lithium-ion battery cells. These act like capacitors to account for peaks in energy demand that exceed the output of the hydrogen gas cell.

Ollero mounted all of these parts inside a field that attaches onto the mattress of an RC truck. The ability output wires connect to the RC truck’s commonplace battery enter. This labored nicely and the RC truck drove round with none points. However the RC truck is only a demonstration and this hydrogen gas cell setup might be helpful for a lot of different purposes.