View Full Version : Victor turning off
Our team has a problem ... we have 14.5 inches wheels .. the one from skyway wheels and they are able to go up the 6 inch step ... but now that we bought a carpet and tried out on it .. our victors which power the drill motors (btw we have a tank drive system) shut off if we go at full speed/force, i know a lot of teams are having problems with the wheels themselves they create a lot of friction, even the ones that came in the kit ...
sometimes when we have the compressor on and we go froward the compressor shuts off and the victors shut off momentarily every few seconds while the compressor is shut off ... we changed the battery too .... is there something in the victor itself that be doing it ... ?!?!?
Random Dude
23-02-2004, 11:30
Our team has a problem ... we have 14.5 inches wheels .. the one from skyway wheels and they are able to go up the 6 inch step ... but now that we bought a carpet and tried out on it .. our victors which power the drill motors (btw we have a tank drive system) shut off if we go at full speed/force, i know a lot of teams are having problems with the wheels themselves they create a lot of friction, even the ones that came in the kit ...
sometimes when we have the compressor on and we go froward the compressor shuts off and the victors shut off momentarily every few seconds while the compressor is shut off ... we changed the battery too .... is there something in the victor itself that be doing it ... ?!?!?
Do you have the blue backup battery installed?
It would appear that the current draw of the motors is causing the battery voltage to drop far enough to reset the controller. That would cause your compressor to shut down as well.
Joe Ross
23-02-2004, 11:34
You are tripping the circuit breakers that power the victors. If this happens when going straight forward, it probably means you have way too little gear reduction going to your wheels. What is your gear ration and are the drills in high or low gear?
If it only happened while turning, you'd probably be ok with reducing the friction of your wheels, but it sounds like you have major problems.
no we dont have the blue battery hooked up ... we're tryin it with it right now .. but the big battery is fully charged and it still does the same thing ... any suggestions ? :s
our gear ratio is 3:1 ... yea we figured its the circuit breaker ... and no its not when the robot is just going forward ... its when its either turning or its going up that 6 inch step ... those are the only times ...
KenWittlief
23-02-2004, 11:40
if your battery is fully charged you can watch the voltage on the OI - keep pushing the little button next to it till the team number changes to the battery voltage.
Did you use the big 40A breakers or the little 30 or 20 amp ones for the drill motors?
double check your drill motor transmissions - the white gearheads that came with the drill motors have two speeds, you want them in low. if you have them clicked into high gear this is exactly what will happen with wheels that big - the motors will stall and trip the breakers.
BTW - if the compressor really is going off at the same time as the drill motors then you have your compressor wired to the same circuit breaker as the motor - each victor or spike should have it own breaker - and make sure you didnt accidently wire them in series. OR your battery is dead and your recharger is not working - it takes about 4 hours to charge a dead battery.
yea we used the 40 A breaker for the drill motors and they are in low gear ... the compressor is hooked up to a spike not a victor ...
the thing is the compressor goes on when pressure is low (ofcourse) ... so lets say the compressor is on and we are trying to go up the 6 inch step or turning/spining ... the compressor shuts off at that time and when the drill motors are gettin power the robot controller's LOW BATTERY LED blinks for a split of a second when the drill turn off
KenWittlief
23-02-2004, 13:13
if the low battery light comes on then you are stalling your motors, you have a weak battery (an old one or one that is not fully charged), or a bad connection somewhere in your power wires.
Im not certain on this, but I believe the blue backup battery only keeps the RC from resetting when the 12V battery drops low - I believe the outputs to the PWMs are still cuttoff at a certain voltage, so yes, if you pull enough power from the 12V battery to drop the voltage below the threshold, then the victors and spikes will be switched off.
Its possible that you have a poor connection in your power wires somewhere. If you have a terminal or wire that is just barely touching, or poorly crimped - it will have a relatively high resistance, and when your motors draw a lot of current, the voltage will be lost across that bad connection
it could be anywhere from the terminals screwed to the battery posts, to the main breaker, your ground stud, the buss box (black square cube thing) your breaker panels - anywhere between your RC and the battery, that causes the RC to 'see' a lower battery voltage under high current conditions.
Random Dude
23-02-2004, 14:24
if the low battery light comes on then you are stalling your motors, you have a weak battery (an old one or one that is not fully charged), or a bad connection somewhere in your power wires.
Im not certain on this, but I believe the blue backup battery only keeps the RC from resetting when the 12V battery drops low - I believe the outputs to the PWMs are still cuttoff at a certain voltage, so yes, if you pull enough power from the 12V battery to drop the voltage below the threshold, then the victors and spikes will be switched off.
Actually, the PWM outputs keep driving even with the main battery disconnected. I've notice this because after I turn of the breaker, my IR sensors keep scanning.
KenWittlief
23-02-2004, 14:29
ok then maybe the Victors have a minumum voltage, below which they dont function
still comes down to the same cause: either
motors not geared down enough and breakers are opening
bad connection somewhere causing a voltage drop at high current
weak (faulty?) battery?
or the laws of physics are no longer in effect :^)
Al Skierkiewicz
23-02-2004, 18:35
I think you need to look at the fact that you have 14.5" tires. You are traveling 45" for every rotation of the wheel. A rule of thumb here is your design speed should be less than or equal to 10 ft. sec. in a straight line. You must reduce the motor output in order to increase torque to the wheels. You are likely so far down on the motor curves that you are drawing near stall current on the motors. (drills stall out at 129 amps.) With the larger diameter wheels it is very easy to draw too much current from the battery particularly in turns. The pump is shutting down because you have drawn the battery down to a point where the RC stops functioning or the pump can't get enough current to run.
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