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Unread 25-03-2002, 18:17
Unsung FIRST Hero
Ian Mackenzie Ian Mackenzie is offline
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FRC #3683
Team Role: College Student
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Rookie Year: 1998
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 111
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Quote:
Originally posted by Al Skierkiewicz
On the subject of the 60 amp breakers, I do not believe that any team can trip this breaker on current overload.
Unfortunately, I think it is quite clear that our robot DID trip our breaker multiple times solely on current overload. We were running six-motor drive, and we continued to trip the breaker even after gearing down, providing better ventilation to the breakers, fixing some faulty wiring, and allowing the breaker to be supported in mid-air by its own wires only (and cushioned by surgical tubing in case it moved too far).

Also, our breaker tripped mainly during sustained pushing matches, such as continuous low current being used to keep two goals stationary in our scoring zone. We eventually had to make the painful decision to disengage the drills from our mobility gearboxes, which has so far solved the tripping problem but has noticeably reduced speed and torque.

What seemed to happen sometimes is that one motor would trip its own 30 amp breaker, and while that motor was not receiving power the other two would be driving it, increasing the load on them and exacerbating the problem.

-Ian Mackenzie
Team 188
Woburn Robotics