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Unread 13-02-2004, 14:16
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Re: Line sensor wire gauge questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dinush
I was also unsure because I soldered the blue wire in the line sensor to a PWM pin which connects to the Digitali I/O ground, but in the circuit diagram, it shows the line sensor connecting directly to the ground on the circuit breaker.

And in the rule book it says:
"Sensors may not be wired in series with their loads to directlyu control those loads"
Which is why I was wondering about running one wire from the 20amp circuit breaker and cutting off parts off the insulation and sodering the brown wire of each sensor to the +12V wire.

It also says:
"The loads must be controlled by PWM signals sent by the Robot Controller to relays or speed controllers"

What exactly is this reffering to? Does this mean that the power of the sensors has to be controlled by the microcontroller through a relay?
The rule you cited refers to the digital pneumatic pressure sensor and the pneumatic compressor. The reason they have this rule is because, in the past, teams have connected the pressure switch and compressor in series, because they figure that doing so is a lot simpler than setting up the system properly, which involves reading the sensor value into the control system, and having the pneumatic compressor connected to a seperate relay. What they don't realize is that the compressor draws upwards of 10Amps, and in the setup they have created, 10Amps is also going directly through the pressure switch. The switch itself can be irreparably damaged by passing this much current through it.

I have a vague idea of what you're saying to do, but this vague idea doesn't contain anything that strikes me as wrong. And I really trust Al Skierkiewicz's judgement.
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