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Unread 11-03-2015, 11:51 PM
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Re: How do you design a robot that doesn't brownout?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me View Post
6 CIM motors, moderately loaded, without real defense or much resistance, really shouldn't cause brownouts. I would take a careful look at your systems and see if there are some glaring inefficiencies anywhere, like a binding gearbox, gear ratios that are way too low (low in reduction / high in speed), etc. It sounds like a mechanical problem.
I'll echo this... We've run at least as much motor power without issue before.

Without seeing your robot in action, I can't be sure... but taking a shot in the dark, were you stalling your elevator motors to hold the totes up? Because if you were stalling 2 CIM motors at full power for any extended amount of time, especially if you were driving around at the same time, that could cause some significant power issues. Motors don't like to be stalled, and when stalled they pull an amazing amount of current - enough that they can drop your voltage enough to cause the roboRio to turn everything off. You should always try to design your systems to avoid stall conditions - mechanical brakes, limit switches to tell you when to stop, that sort of thing.
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