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Originally Posted by rocko
i mean can you have backup batteries to give power to the control panel that the drivers will be using, to power vf displays and such?
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I haven't scoured this year's rules, but in the past I believe the rule was that you could use batteries for powering things like LEDs or laptops/Palms connected to the dashboard. However, don't even think about trying to power the actual OI with your own battery. The OI gets its power through the competition port. When you go up to the driver's station for a match, there's a cable there that you have to plug into your competition port (meaning you can't have anything of your own plugged into it). That cable configures your OI for the correct channel, and automatically controls the enabling/disabling/autonomous activation of your robot.
Also I assume by "vf display" that you mean vacuum-flourescent? You may want to rethink the idea of using that type of device with your robot, since it generates a lot of RF noise and could potentially interfere with your robot communications. If you do decide to use it, try to locate your radio modem as far away from the display as possible, and keep in mind that if you experience any radio modem problems that the first thing Innovation First will probably tell you to do is to get rid of the display.