6 CIM motors max, but unlimited AndyMark Bane-Bot motors

[paul.dornfeld]

Just want to be sure we are reading R29 correctly. We can legally have unlimited AndyMark Bane-Bot motors, right?

[Colin935]

Yes, but the roboRio only has 11 PWM's so after 6 cims you can have maximum 5 banebots.

[Chris is me]

Yes, but the RoboRio only as 11 PWM's so after 6 cims you can have maximum 5 banebots.

You can definitely run more than 11 motors on a robot, or even more than 11 unique PWM outputs. This is not a hard limit on the number of motors on the robot and shouldn't be stated as such.

[paul.dornfeld]

Yes, but the roboRio only has 11 PWM's so after 6 cims you can have maximum 5 banebots.

Good point. Thank you.

[nighterfighter]

Good point. Thank you.

You could always utilize CAN instead of PWM.

Your upper limit is going to come from the available number of WAGO slots on your PDP.

[ccresta1386]

Yes, but the roboRio only has 11 PWM's so after 6 cims you can have maximum 5 banebots.

Yes, but if they do need more there is always the More Board, though if you are running too many motors you run the risk of a brownout.

Link to the More Board: http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2995.htm

[paul.dornfeld]

You can definitely run more than 11 motors on a robot, or even more than 11 unique PWM outputs. This is not a hard limit on the number of motors on the robot and shouldn't be stated as such.

That is a great thought. How would that work? Would I need a second RoboRio? a second Power Supply panel?

[paul.dornfeld]

Yes, but if they do need more there is always the More Board, though if you are running too many motors you run the risk of a brownout.

Link to the More Board: http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2995.htm

Thanks for the link. Very helpful. Wow, we have a lot to learn... :)

[nighterfighter]

That is a great thought. How would that work? Would I need a second RoboRio? a second Power Supply panel?

I'd suggest you re-read this document: https://firstfrc.blob.core.windows.net/frc2016manuals/GameManual/FRC-2016-game-manual-04.pdf

Pay attention to rule R56 and R36.

[pilleya]

Full size CIM's are the only motor that has a 'limit' this season.

This is not related to the limit, but Andymark does not actually have "Bane-bots" motors, are you talking about the 550 style 9015 or the Andymark PG 775 motor.

It is important to note that the Andymark Planetary Gearbox with 775 motor is not a banebots RS775-18 and is a Andymark RS775-125 which is very weak in comparison to the Banebots or WCP 775 motors. It has less than 20% of the output power of the RS775-18.

[Chris is me]

That is a great thought. How would that work? Would I need a second RoboRio? a second Power Supply panel?

You can also use PWM Y-Cables to connect multiple speed controllers receiving the same signal. All of the motors on the same gearbox should probably be connected to speed controllers connected via PWM Y-Cables. This saves on the number of ports you need to use.

[paul.dornfeld]

I'd suggest you re-read this document: https://firstfrc.blob.core.windows.net/frc2016manuals/GameManual/FRC-2016-game-manual-04.pdf

Pay attention to rule R56 and R36.

Thanks so much for the guidance. So, I see that only ONE power supply and ONE RoboRio is allowed. So it looks like either the MORE board or the WAGO slots is the way of increasing the number of motors?

[paul.dornfeld]

You can also use PWM Y-Cables to connect multiple speed controllers receiving the same signal. All of the motors on the same gearbox should probably be connected to speed controllers connected via PWM Y-Cables. This saves on the number of ports you need to use.

That's right. I forgot about the y-connectors. Thank you.

[nighterfighter]

Thanks so much for the guidance. So, I see that only ONE power supply and ONE RoboRio is allowed. So it looks like either the MORE board or the WAGO slots is the way of increasing the number of motors?

The WAGO slots on the PDP are the "ports" that you plug your motor-controller wires into.

You can not (FRC-legally) modify the PDP to have more WAGO slots. The MORE board allows you to have more PWM outputs, but won't actually give you more WAGO slots.

Edit:

As to your question about the "Y" connector:

Yes you could do that. Make sure that each CIM motor is connected to it's own motor controller, and each of those motor controllers are connected to different WAGO slots.

Keep in mind, whatever PWM signal you send into the "Y" cable will be sent to both. You can't address each motor controller individually that way. So make sure that the motors spin the correct directions and aren't fighting each other once inside the gearbox.

[ccresta1386]

That's right. I forgot about the y-connectors. I can "y" the two CIMs running the same mini-gear box right?

Yes, You can since the motors will always have to go in the same, direction and power.

[paul.dornfeld]

Full size CIM's are the only motor that has a 'limit' this season.

This is not related to the limit, but Andymark does not actually have "Bane-bots" motors, are you talking about the 550 style 9015 or the Andymark PG 775 motor.

It is important to note that the Andymark Planetary Gearbox with 775 motor is not a banebots RS775-18 and is a Andymark RS775-125 which is very weak in comparison to the Banebots or WCP 775 motors. It has less than 20% of the output power of the RS775-18.

Oh! Thank you for the clarification. That is important.

[paul.dornfeld]

The WAGO slots on the PDP are the "ports" that you plug your motor-controller wires into.

You can not (FRC-legally) modify the PDP to have more WAGO slots. The MORE board allows you to have more PWM outputs, but won't actually give you more WAGO slots.

Edit:

As to your question about the "Y" connector:

Yes you could do that. Make sure that each CIM motor is connected to it's own motor controller, and each of those motor controllers are connected to different WAGO slots.

Keep in mind, whatever PWM signal you send into the "Y" cable will be sent to both. You can't address each motor controller individually that way. So make sure that the motors spin the correct directions and aren't fighting each other once inside the gearbox.

Fantastic info. Thank you.

[pilleya]

Oh! Thank you for the clarification. That is important.

There is a helpful comparison between most legal motors available at

http://motors.vex.com/

[paul.dornfeld]

There is a helpful comparison between most legal motors available at

http://motors.vex.com/

Thank you so much. That is an excellent resource and is now on my wall as a permanent reference.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

This would be an appropriate time to remind everyone that the battery can only supply so much energy. You can load up a lot of motors but running many of them at the same time will lead to brownouts. There is no free lunch fellow knights.

[paul.dornfeld]

This would be an appropriate time to remind everyone that the battery can only supply so much energy. You can load up a lot of motors but running many of them at the same time will lead to brownouts. There is no free lunch fellow knights.

Thank you for that excellent information. Our plan is to use the smaller motors intermittently, and independently of each other as arm actuators, So at any given time there would be our four CIM drive motors and only one smaller motor operating. Hopefully, we won't be taxing the electrical system too much.