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View Full Version : [FTC]: Homebrew Power Distribution Module

BSV
13-04-2016, 23:56
Hi there,

We have some Anderson Powerpole power distribution blocks (the old version of this: https://powerwerx.com/8-position-powerpole-distribution-block)

We also have a couple of unused powered USB hubs.

For an offseason demo FTC robot, would it be reasonable to add a 12V-to-5V converter to step down the voltage from a battery (using something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Nextrox-Converter-Power-Supply-Module/dp/B00A71CMDU) to power the hub, and then just connect our ZTE speed to the hub along with any motor controllers?

I don't really want to dump $90 more into a PDM when we can hack something together for much cheaper. What am I missing?

We have several old Hitechnic motor controllers, so are thinking about making some small demo robots using our spare (unused) Core Legacy Modules.
aklego
14-04-2016, 00:24
I believe you can power the Legacy module directly from the phone and completely bypass the need for the hub and voltage converter.
wgardner
14-04-2016, 10:10
I believe you can power the Legacy module directly from the phone and completely bypass the need for the hub and voltage converter.

We have a JV rookie team that did this for prototyping and scrimmaging this year and it worked great. They connected the USB cable direct from the phone to the Legacy module. They used an Anderson Powerpole distribution block to split the power out from the battery switch to all legacy motor and servo controllers.
BSV
14-04-2016, 10:15
With ZTE Speeds now only $20, we can make several demo robots for almost no cost to us. I wonder how long the phone battery will last between charges, though?

Thanks for the advice! We'll try this out soon.
ftcTeam6389
20-04-2016, 09:51
With ZTE Speeds now only $20, we can make several demo robots for almost no cost to us. I wonder how long the phone battery will last between charges, though?

Thanks for the advice! We'll try this out soon.

Hi,

We run our Krazy Kubes outreach game with the ZTE speed phones quite a bit, and have found that they last up to 5-6 hours on a single full charge for both the RC and DS.

- The Lazybotts
BSV
21-04-2016, 21:10
Hi,

We run our Krazy Kubes outreach game with the ZTE speed phones quite a bit, and have found that they last up to 5-6 hours on a single full charge for both the RC and DS.

- The Lazybotts

Great, thanks for the info.

When we joined the program last year, all the electronics were a few years old and in really bad shape (there are 3 FTC teams, here). So we purchased all new motor controllers and stuff as we raised enough funds. Then, of course, the new stuff came out, which means we have a pretty good amount of old electronics in good shape. We'll likely replace the ZTE speeds on all the competition 'bots with something else (one of them already has Moto G2s) and use the ZTEs for the outreach bots.

The summer is going to be fun. Lots of stuff to do.