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Unread 24-01-2003, 08:57
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Matt Leese Matt Leese is offline
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FRC #1438 (The Aztechs)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: May 2001
Rookie Year: 1998
Location: Long Beach, CA
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The coast/brake jumper on the speed controller works by either closing or opening the circuit that the motor is on. When set to coast and there is no input to the motor (ie, an input to the speed controller of 127), the speed controller open circuits the motor so that it can spin freely. When set to brake and there is no input to the motor, the speed controller closes the circuit to the motor. This causes there to be resistance to the back driving of the motor. The speed controller absorbs the created force and dissipates it as heat.

The main difference between the speed controller and the pins is that the speed controller will engage immediately whereas there's still a bit of a turn (though very slight) with the pins. Also, I've seen more trouble with gear boxes breaking (ie the pins take too much stress and break) than with the speed controllers going. I'd trust the speed controllers over the pins.

Matt