Cheaper speed controllers

[Max Lobovsky]

My team is planning on making a drive train and chasis in preparation for next year (yes i know this one isnt eve over yet, i just cant wait :) ) And i was wondering if there is a source for speed controllers cheaper than the Victor 884 that are compatible with the RC (as in same 3 pin controller and can take up to 60 A). If teams have old 883's or know of other controllers, that would be great. We are looking for at least 4.

[Cory]

Ask some local teams if they have some 883's they can spare, and Im sure you'll find tons. I know my team has probably 30+ sitting around.

Cory

[sanddrag]

Check http://www.robotmarketplace.com/marketplace_robowars.html I really like the RoboWars IBC Speed Control. I have one myself. It is dual channel which basically means it is two speed controls in one. It will hande 50 amps continuous on each channel. The Innovation First Victor 884s can only handle 40 amps continuous. It costs $250. Two V884s cost $230. The Robowars IBC is a much better unit since it can operate from 4-36 volts and it has a bunch of built in features.

[KenWittlief]

I think the reason why FIRST doesnt use the 883's anymore is they could only handle 30 amps?

[velocipenguin]

I think the reason why FIRST doesnt use the 883's anymore is they could only handle 30 amps?

The 883s have a much larger deadband. The 884s offer full control over the entire range of input signals, while the 883s don't respond to inputs below a certain threshold.

[Joe Ross]

The reason that Innovation FIRST had to design the victor speed controllers was that there weren’t any cheap high current speed controllers available. Like sanddrag pointed out, you can get ones similar in price, but not cheaper.

And, both Ken and velocipenguin are correct. The victor 883's are only designed for 30 amps continuous. However, they can handle peak currents in the hundreds of amps. They also have a 10% deadband, which doesn't really matter for drive trains, but can matter for arms. The 884's handle 40 amps continuous (which is why they are now required), but also only have a 2 or 3% deadband.

[jacob_dilles]

if you have all year you might wana start out with a good old soldering iron and a couple of FEETs and make your own h-bridge :) but in all seriousness, the Victor 884 isnt THAT expensive and it is a very reliable and (usaly) fire proof controler. there realy isnt a get outof jail free card here, because first would have used it. besides if your to build next years drive train, you might as well use regulation parts...

[mtrawls]

I started the year we stopped using victor 883s, so I don't know for sure ... but isn't one reason is that they don't have reverse polarity protection? But I know the 884s can be expensive -- every time I give the order for how many we need for the year, or ask for spares, the lead teacher begrudingly (and makes me much aware of it) pays the price! So at the competition, I got the idea to tell him that we broke one of our speed controllers, but I wasn't sure which one -- so we'd have to order ten more just to be safe! Now, it was either that or the virus that made him sick ... I'm not too sure ;)

[pryoplasm]

I started the year we stopped using victor 883s, so I don't know for sure ... but isn't one reason is that they don't have reverse polarity protection? But I know the 884s can be expensive -- every time I give the order for how many we need for the year, or ask for spares, the lead teacher begrudingly (and makes me much aware of it) pays the price! So at the competition, I got the idea to tell him that we broke one of our speed controllers, but I wasn't sure which one -- so we'd have to order ten more just to be safe! Now, it was either that or the virus that made him sick ... I'm not too sure ;)

victor 884s are only about $115us right? our engineers give us a credit card and let us get it online....