The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Hello robotics enthusiasts!

Here at Spinoff Solutions, we are proud to announce our latest product: The Pulsinator!!!
http://thespinoff.biz/store/

The Pulsinator is a simple, affordable, handheld, user friendly device for controlling or testing motors and servos! Simply connect the Pulsinator to the motor controller or servo and turn the knob to control the motor. It is compatible with Talon, Victor, and Jaguar motor controllers, as well as some types of servos. The Pulsinator is a high quality tool, designed and fabricated by Spinoff Solutions in the USA. Its custom design and durable construction makes it the perfect tool for your needs.

Before the Pulsinator, many teams had to use an expensive power supply or wait for their robot to be wired up and running code before they could test a prototype. The Pulsinator eliminates the need for these expensive tools and makes testing prototypes extremely simple. All you need to get your prototype working is a battery, a motor controller, a motor, and a Pulsinator. Simply turn the knob to rotate the motor forward, backwards, and at variable speeds.


For perspective, here is what it would take to test a motor without the Pulsinator:


You can find all of our products at: http://thespinoff.biz/store/
To contact us, please email us at: support@thespinoff.biz

We hope you are as excited as we are for the 2016 season!
We wish you the best,
~The Spinoff Team



Also, in case you haven’t heard about us before, we’ll tell you all about what we do.

Who are we?
Spinoff Solutions was born 2 years ago by an ambitious group of students from team 2175, The Fighting Calculators. When faced with a unique challenge, we rose to the solution. But we did not stop there. We quickly found that our inventions were extremely useful, and could save a lot of time. That was when we decided to bring our inventions to the public.

Project Spinoff:
The goal of our organization is simple: To inspire and prepare young people for STEM related careers. We accomplish this by involving young people in the design, construction, and marketing of cool robotics related products.

About our products:
All of our products are tested before they are shipped. No exceptions. In addition to that, all products made by Spinoff Solutions are designed and manufactured in the USA.

How We Give Back:
Spinoff Solutions was started by a group of people who were on Team 2175, The Fighting Calculators. Because of that, we strongly uphold the values of FIRST and we use the majority of our profits to sponsor robotics teams. Additionally, we give students the chance to work in a STEM related career; a chance that many people will not get until they are much older.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Very neat, and clean too. Is this a PWM generator with potentiometer or does it have other capabilities like CAN?

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Cool!

We used a similar setup last year for mounting our arm but we definitely didn't built it ourselves. We used this widget: http://www.amazon.com/YKS-Consistenc.../dp/B015XO07IC

We had to hack a circuit together to supply it with power and then we eventually just moved it to a modified USB cable to get 5v.

Very cool project though!

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Thanks! The Pulsinator only outputs PWM signals. When we were designing the Pulsinator, we wanted to make it extremely simple, easy to use, and compatible with almost any motor controller out there. For those reasons, we decided to leave the CAN bus feature out of the final product. We wanted something that could simply be plugged in and ready to go, and we did not want users questioning if they had the device ID set correctly, or accidentally controlling different motors on the same CAN bus, etc.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Is there any difference between it and the Thrifty Throttle from Andymark?
http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2936.htm

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

While the Thrifty Throttle and the Pulsinator do very similar tasks, there are some key differences between the two products. Here is a list of those differences:

• The Pulsinator is actually in stock.
• The Pulsinator is contained in a durable, shock resistant, translucent case - We thought it was cool to see what was inside. :) Having a durable case is extremely important, especially in the rough and tumble world of robotics, pit crews, and teams working in a shop.
• The Pulsinator has over 72 hours of battery life.
• The Pulsinator can actually supply power to smaller servos. This is a feature that is extremely important to us. With the Pulsinator, you do not need an external power supply to test small servos.
• The Pulsinator is designed and assembled in the USA.
• The majority of the profits made on the Pulsinator are being used to sponsor robotics teams.

By purchasing the Pulsinator, you are not only getting a high quality tool, but you are also supporting other robotics teams around the world. To me, thats the coolest part about it.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

This is gizmo, The Pulsinator's weird uncle.
Devices like this are pretty handy when the programmers aren't letting us near the machine.*

*because we've given them two hours to program and debug the thing.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

May I ask who the teams are that are being sponsored by these profits and the extent of testing that went into developing this product? It looks like a useful piece of equipment, congratulations on bringing it to market.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Thank you! We are very glad that we can share this great tool with others.
At the moment we are planning on sponsoring teams 2175 and 3130, as they have made a significant contribution to the development of the Pulsinator. As we grow, we will definitely be sponsoring more teams. Any teams interested in being sponsored should contact us by email at: support@thespinoff.biz

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

LOVE IT! Go 2175 - you guys continue to be an inspiration to teams in MN!

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

As a member of Team 2175 and the Spinoff development team, I can attest to the Pulsinator's unique usefulness. During prototyping, we used to lug out a very heavy variable voltage power supply to run our intake prototypes, but with the Pulsinator, a motor controller, and a battery, our prototyping is lighter and more mobile.

In competitions, the Pulsinator has rescued our team multiple times. When we had drivetrain issues in time-crunched situations, we were able to easily diagnose the problem using the Pulsinator and determine that our cables were ripped or that our motor needed to be replaced. Without the Pulsinator, we would have had to test the motors with code and/or do continuity tests on all our wires individually, which would have consumed a lot of time that we didn't have.

I really like having the Pulsinator because it makes motor, controller, and cable testing so much easier and takes a lot of the uncertainty and hassle out of troubleshooting (in addition to replacing those heavy lab power supplies).

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Could you please post a link to download the user manual? I couldn't find it on your website.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

We bought the Thrifty Throttle this year. We did not know about the Pulsinator. Don't know how we would have decided if we knew about the choices.

What would be nice is:

Allow the Pulsinator to be powered by the 12 volt battery (vs the 9 volt battery). Ideally, it would have circuits to protect it in the event the 12 volt power is wired backwards.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Given the simplicity and compatibility of the product, we include a brief "Quick Start Guide" in the packaging. You can find it on our website: http://thespinoff.biz/store/pulsinat...ulsinator.html

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Darn! I hope that the Thrifty Throttle has met your needs. One of the coolest things about the Pulsinator is that the profits generated through this product are used to sponsor other robotics teams! In a way, you are buying a useful tool and helping other teams to succeed. :)

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

It has. We might buy more of them next year. So, if you can get it to accept 12 volts, that would be a reason to buy yours.

It would also be great for motorizing a cart that I have been thinking about doing.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

In the same way, AndyMark helps sponsor teams.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Now if somebody can make it work for CAN bus.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Can you use it with a PWM splitter to run two motor controllers simultaneously? This would have been very helpful when prototyping shooters this year.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

It might depend on what motor controllers you are using. The different motor controllers have widely different input impedance.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

We would use Talons like the ones recommended.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Which Talons?

Recommended by whom?

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Just the old Talons, the ones recommended both in this thread and on the website.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Three things:

1) FTR, there are two different models of 2016-FRC-legal "old" Talons.

2) The only other mention of "Talon" in this thread was the OP, wherein old/new was not explicit.

3) I'm told by Spinoff that the Pulsinator is capable of 40ma output. I assume that's with a dead short. Still, it should be adequate to control two of the older Talons (original or SR) with a splitter. Try sending a PM to Spinoff to confirm.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

Thank you. I did not realize there were two types of the 'old' talons.

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

We built a motor test board with an old (circa 2013) power distribution board, main breaker, a few talons and a small PWM generator that fed off the 5V rail. I don't recall the brand, but it had a 1.5" boxy yellow enclosure. We were never able to split the signal three ways, but on good days can run two talons at once off the thing.

It's been a useful tool, though quite bulky of course.

With a test board like that in mind I would second the request for either 12v or 5v input, ideally with a standard radio connector. I would also love something that had three PWM outputs and could drive all of them at once with the same signal. When we want to test a 3-CIM gearbox for instance, having all three motors running at the same speed is pretty important. Call that one the Pulsinator Pro and include mounting points and instructions for test board creation. I'm sure lots of teams have a big box of pre-2015 controllers and power boards they could use for this, and in situations like that there is some value in having a full setup like that.

On the flipside, what you are going for is a worthwhile exercise (eliminating extra bulk and cables) but I'd love to see you go one step further. What I really want for quick testing in the pit would be something that is in essence just one single, somewhat lumpy cable. On one end we have a battery connector and on the other we have wires that we can terminate how we please. In the middle we have the controller package.

In the short term, perhaps selling (or even just publishing STL files for) a custom bracket that would let you snap the Pulsinator in one side and bolt an old Talon SR or maybe new Spark motor controller on the other side would work. Attach the two together and then wire on the outside.

In the longer term, perhaps work with Rev Robotics and see if you could build a custom enclosure that housed the guts of both the Pulsinator and their Spark, with internal wiring. That would give you a clean single-package solution.

Actually, we might just pick up a couple and play around with this as a summer project. Might be fun...

Either way, it's great to see more options like this available!

Re: The Pulsinator is Here!
 

For something like this, you can take an old 12V hand drill (or other power tool), remove the motor, and terminate those wires however you like. The trigger gives you variable control over the supplied voltage, and the switch reverses it! Battery included, all in one handheld device. Hook it up to the motor and you're good to go. Downside is that you probably only want to run one large motor off of it...