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Unread 26-03-2014, 16:52
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Re: regulated power for potentiometer

If you're having trouble with the Analog Breakout, the Digital Sidecar isn't far behind, with much worse symptoms. It might be helpful to make a new thread about how you're killing batteries over the course of a match, and describe your robot and power systems so that people can provide suggestions on how to reduce power draw.

The dropout of Analog Breakout regulator decreases as the load decreases. You may be able to reduce the number or size of loads to gain a little more margin. See attached chart from the MIC5209 datasheet.

I agree with Max that you can't tap into the radio power supply in any way.

One option, without adding an external boost converter, is to use power a Solenoid breakout with cRIO 24v (allowed per R42). Turn on a Solenoid Output (allowed per R51), and then use a voltage divider to bring it down to 10v (The NI analog module is +/-10v). This has the disadvantage that you can't read the pot during disabled mode. You're also switching from a linear regulator to a switching regulator.
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Last edited by Joe Ross : 26-03-2014 at 17:11.