Quote:
Originally Posted by Breadbocks
Thanks for the input. For the record, in addition to a 4-cim drive base and a compressor constantly running, in addition to some other electronics, and the load is only going to go up once we add some other stuff that'll drain more power like a crapton of LEDs to make it pretty. I've had other 4-cim drive bases and the battery didn't drop anywhere near as much when it was running.
|
For what it's worth, if you're compressor is running 'constantly' or in on more often than not, it might be worth looking into the efficiency of your pneumatic setup before chasing additional batter capacity - as other's said before in this thread, the duty cycle of the current FRC compressor is relatively low and the older compressors aren't all that much better in the real world. (Though better in some FRC cases, IMO.)
It sounds almost like one of two things are going on; you're using a lot of air for auxiliary functions (relative to the amount being stored) / storing too little air (relative to the amount being used), or your system has a series of leaks somewhere. Of the two, leaks are probably the most simple issue to chase, especially if you've got a spray bottle filled with soap and water.
If it turns out that you're using a lot of air and/or storing too little, one of the easiest things to do is look at how much work the cylinders/actuators are actually doing. Standard FRC systems are usually run at 60psi (stored at 120) which can be (often is) overkill for the amount of work the system is doing. If you're just moving a series of mechanisms around, or something like that, you can try turning down the working pressure until you find a sweet spot. If it turns out that you can run at a pressure significantly lower than 60psi, you should notice that your stored air capacity should last longer, meaning that the compressor will run less often. The alternative is adding additional capacity, but you'll need to be conscious of how long the compressor is being run to fill that additional capacity.
Another handy alternative is to make an off board compressor setup. Basically, you'd take the compressor, control electronics, and an independent battery and then put them into some sort of self contained package. This would then allow you to charge the system without drawing from the robots primary battery, which will increase run time. This is a handy trick even if there's a compressor on the robot since you can charge the system before you start a demo and then the on board compressor will come on as needed to recharge but should never see that initial charging time (usually relatively long).