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Unread 24-03-2013, 21:37
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Uber Alien
AKA: Mike 1
FRC #4004 (M.A.R.S. Rovers)
Team Role: Coach
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Rookie Year: 2009
Location: Michigan
Posts: 168
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Voltage drop normal?

At last weekend's regional we noticed something peculiar on our robot: every time the driver would hit the throttle fast, our camera illumination LEDs would dim significantly. We also noticed a dimming of the RSL during that time but not as pronounced. I know some voltage drop is to be expected during the startup phase of the motors when they present the greatest electrical load, but none of us remembers seeing the LEDs dim this much.

We drive two sets of 4 green LEDs in series with a small dropping resistor to minimize power drop across the resistor. I wonder if that makes the LEDs super sensitive to the voltage dip during motor start-up. What caught me off guard was the RSL taking a slight drop in brightness as well.

We drive 6 wheels via two cimple boxes with 2 CIM motors each and 4 Jaguars.

Am I looking for a problem where there isn't one?