Chief Delphi - Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

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- General Forum (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16)

- - Power Management Recommendation for driver stations (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83929)

Tanner

21-03-2010 18:10

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damaku250 (Post 940536)

One of our team members has an uninterruptable power source: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...2224&CatId=234

Would we be able to use this on the field to power the laptop?

Not sure if you'd want to carry the heavy thing around, especially on the field where it could be dropped accidentally.

-Tanner

sanddrag

21-03-2010 18:32

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damaku250 (Post 940536)

One of our team members has an uninterruptable power source: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...2224&CatId=234

Would we be able to use this on the field to power the laptop?

As long as it is declared part of the operator console, fits on the shelf, and is safe, there are no rules prohibiting this.

Vikesrock

21-03-2010 18:37

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I definitely didn't see any power strips in the queuing area at the Midwest regional as Bill's Blog indicated there would be.

I know the announcer asked at the start of elims for any non-elim teams with charged Classmate batteries that they were willing to share to bring them over.

Al Skierkiewicz

21-03-2010 18:46

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Craig,
That is an overkill and is very heavy.

BrendanB

21-03-2010 18:55

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Agree with Al, it is an overkill to have on the drivers station. However, since you do have it, I would recommend you put it on your cart and have run off of battery power during matches if there are 1. no power at stations for a tournament or 2. no smaller universal battery purchased by your team.

Damaku250

21-03-2010 19:44

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

scratch that, we'll probably get one of the things from the link in sanddrag's signature and use a power inverter...

Radical Pi

21-03-2010 21:53

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Lucas (Post 936885)

If you are using the PSoC board make sure to unplug it between matches, it's a real powerhog. At Chesapeake Regional, our Classmate was charged going into Elims. By SF 1-2 our Classmate battery was in the red and the PSoC was failing to connect (so we stopped using it). In SF 1-4 (a back to back match), the battery was very low and may have contributed to periodic network communication error. We would run for about 10sec then lose communication for about 2 sec (not sure the Classmate was the problem but since we didnt play a match afterward, it remains a possibility). Back in the pits the PSoc wouldn't work till I plugged the Classmate in. I couldn't reproduce the communication errors while tethered.

really? That would explain why we could only get about a 5% charge between matches. Will try disconnecting it during philly

Chris Fultz

21-03-2010 22:04

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

AndyMark is carrying an inverter with an Anderson connector.

We are using one that is similar, and we keep the classmate plugged in to it while we are waiting in the que.

I do know of one team that borrowed it to keep their laptop plugged in during a match, because their battery was almost gone. It was allowed at their player station.

I have not seen outlets at the player station or nearby at KC or BMR.

eugenebrooks

21-03-2010 22:49

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

We used a dc-dc laptop charger with an anderson connector on it
at SVR. The one problem we did have was that our 110 volt classmate
charger died on Friday, we would have been up a creek without the dc-dc
charger. We used it to charge the laptop overnight on Friday night,
putting a fresh battery on it when we left the pits at 6pm. We then
used it all day on Saturday. It worked out well for us.

The 20 volt, 3.7 amp charger with the 5.5mm-2.5mm plug at
www.powerstream.com is ED1075-52. RadioShack
has a very cheap universal one with lots of plugs and adjustable
voltage, but you will have to check the plugs it has for a proper
fit.

Eugene

PAR_WIG1350

21-03-2010 22:51

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

How do the classmate ac-dc converters work? are they just rectifier diodes? Is there anything preventing them from being used as dc to dc converters? {such as issues with the rectifiers releasing 'magic smoke'}

eugenebrooks

21-03-2010 23:06

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

We will have take our dead classmate charger apart to see what is
in there. Even if it is a switched supply that can run on dc, hacking
together a high voltage dc power supply is a really bad idea that our
UL safety inspectors should frown on. Spend $20 at radio shack for
a suitable 12 volt charger!

Eugene

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAR_WIG1350 (Post 940784)

CrazyCarl461

22-03-2010 13:36

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz (Post 940745)

AndyMark is carrying an inverter with an Anderson connector.
...
I do know of one team that borrowed it to keep their laptop plugged in during a match, because their battery was almost gone. It was allowed at their player station.

461 is the team that had to borrow the inverter from AndyMark. We had the second match of the day and arrived to a completely dead classmate in our pit. It worked great and we bought it on the spot. Thanks Andy!

Get one for yourself

JoshD

22-03-2010 13:52

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Our guys went the inverter route, except they wired it up themselves and they stored the battery on the control board. It's crazy, but it works, we never had an issue with the Classmate, at least to my knowledge.

Al Skierkiewicz

22-03-2010 15:15

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

Quote:

Originally Posted by eugenebrooks (Post 940799)

Eugene,
I am betting that the cable is broken as it leaves the wall wart. I will be very interested in knowing the outcome.

Rosiebotboss

22-03-2010 15:22

Re: Power Management Recommendation for driver stations

If you're coming to the NU CT regional, Rosie will be bringing our UPS's for use at the field drivers stations, if needed by teams. We did it at WPI and Kate (the FTA) thought is was a great idea!

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