Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Stratis
Tom, isn't the entire control system single source? There's only one source for a RoboRio. There's only one company that makes the required PCM and PDP. We can only use one specific brand/model of router.
The competition comes in, I think, when FIRST put out the RFP for the new control system - companies had a chance to come in, show off what they had for everything (including speed controllers, if I remember correctly) and get themselves chosen to supply things for the next few years.
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Yep - the control system is singled sourced. That makes perfect sense from a complexity and safety standpoint - those components work together in a number of ways.
A PWM driven speed controller is stand-alone enough that competition can still be created though. The rest of the control system, not so much, except possibly the VRM.