Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Calibration of motor controllers is a pretty standard practice in RC (especially in the quad rotor world). If the controllers aren't calibrated, the motors will not be in sync (i.e. receive the same power input) -- which could be an issue for motors that are mechanically linked. In quadrotors, the motors are linked via software PID for stability purposes, meaning uncalibrated motor controllers will cause a quadrotor to crash almost immediately.

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Any hint from FIRST as to when we might know if the Talon is legal? Before Jan 5th?

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Mike,
We switched to use CAN bus last year and was starting to enjoy using it. Plus we have invested in a couple of 2CANs. Any idea if Talon will eventually support CAN?

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

I suggest the first hint will probably come to the Beta Test teams, but there probably won't be any guarantee until kickoff!

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

The answer is yes. And thank you.

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Greetings, a new season has begun! and we seem to have a new speed controller that looks like a Vic!

A quick look at the Jag schematic says that when the robot is pushed, the generated current will try to flow in such a way to charge the battery. But if the battery is not connected the voltage to the PDB will keep rizing... Is there something in the PDB that will shunt this current - or something will blow!

Dean

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Camren,
The type of locked antiphase PWM modulation that is used in the Talon is simply the method that used to turn on the FETs that provide motor currents. The FETs in the Talon, Victor and Jaguar all have diodes that provide a path back to the power supply while the motors are coasting or being pushed. This diode is a result of manufacture as I understand.

Rickie and Jon, not to mislead, the conformal coatings on the Victors protect the circuit board components, but the leads of the FETs are still sometimes exposed. Metal swarf still can kill a Victor but they are far more immune to this than the current TI/Luminary production Jaguars. I am going to guess (highly recommend) that the IFI production runs will contain the same conformal coatings as current Victor products. The really difficult component in the Jag to coat is the current sense resistor since this can dissipate large amounts of power/heat. However, if metal falls across it, there isn't likely to be any catastrophic failure since the value is so small.

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Al,

Yes, the Jaguar will feature the same conformal coating as the Victor.

Best,
Ricky

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Sorry I've been out of the loop on this all summer:
What was the outcome of FIRST's RFP for Jaguar replacement?

Thanks,
Dean

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Dean,

Going forward, IFI will be manufacturing, selling, supporting, and donating Jaguars to the 2013 Kits of Parts.

More details are here: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr.../blog-10-03-12

Ricky

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Thanks and excellent news!

I noticed he following:
"Second, the firmware will be modified to remove the current limit protection "

That is great too as that was probably the most significant issue with the Jag (there are others elaborated on on the blogs). However, I hope the current limit is only increased rather than dissabled completely (as in by shorting R23).

Thanks,
Dean

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

All of our testing over the last 2 weeks has been at a refresh rate of 242Hz, as I was too lazy to reconfigure the PIC we're using for pulse generation.

I hope the Talon gets FRC approval. So far, this thing is bulletproof.

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

So far, we've seen a whole lot of reasons to choose the Talon over the older Victors. The biggest one for us is that the talon is showing linearity as good as the Jag, better control around the zero point (smaller dead band), and a victor-sized footprint.

For an idea of just how bad the linearity is on a the Victor, look here:
http://www.fightingpi.org/Resources/...12_Day_3.shtml

Many teams have fixed that in software - so it can be done, but it's an extra step that is better handled in hardare.

Of course, there's a new Victor coming out as well. It's not exactly fair to compare an old product to the new Talon. Apples to apples will be the new Victor vs. the Talon.

Re: New Talon Speed Controller
 

Wow. That non-linearity is pretty ugly.