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Originally Posted by pyrr101
Since I'm head of the electrical component of my teams robot, I came to a tally of 5 Victors and about 6 spikes this year.
I am really concerned that we have a cim running the whole match plus 2 more for drive train. Then the compressor kicking in after using the pneumatic action for the gun.
Anybody know about how much battery power we will have left when we usually go into a match with 13.6v?
Thanks
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Pyrr,
The shooter motor doesn't draw that much current since most of the time there is very little load. Spikes draw a little current only when switching and I am guessing they are feeding pneumatic valves, which are also low in current consumption. So that leaves the drive train. The most current will be used in turning if you are using tank style driving especially with four or more wheels. So it is very hard to predict how much current will be used in any given match. Although you may start the match with a battery that reads 13.6 volts, it will very quickly return to a nominal 12 volts. If you watch the voltage monitor on the OI during a match you will see that it repeatedly falls to less than 10 and perhaps as low as 4 volts depending on the action of the robot. But when activity ceases the voltage returns to near normal.
If you are worried about current, you can try reducing the friction in turns or limit how much the rest of the robot is working during a turn. (i.e. don't allow the ball shooter to move while turning or limit the compressor from turning on while turning.) The best way to predict how your robot will act during a match is to practice and watch the battery. If you can practice for ten minutes before the battery runs down then you should be fine for a 2:10 match. If you are slowing down before 2 minutes of practice, you better find out where all the current is going and make some changes.