Design and evaluation of a micro-fuel-cell-based power system for a mobile robot

A mobile robot being used for an undergraduate course in mechatronics engineering was converted from a conventional lead acid battery to a hydrogen fuelled polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) micro fuel cell as the power source. The application of the robot is first outlined. Next, the design of the fuel-cell-based power supply system as assembled from the commercial components is described. Finally, the performance of the fuel cell is documented. The performance was found to match that of the conventional battery. An operational problem associated with the purging of water had to be solved. Although the cost of the fuel cell was 50 times that of the battery, the exercise did serve to demonstrate the potential of the technology