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Unread 10-05-2010, 23:38
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AKA: Justin Stocking
FTC #5011 (BOT SQUAD) && FTC#72(Garage bots)&& FRC#0399 (Eagle Robotics)
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Rookie Year: 2008
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Re: Using a star configuation for Jaguars on CAN

Quote:
Originally Posted by apalrd View Post
(the answer would have been NO unless we needed the current sensors).
The current sensors have a way of making themselves useful.

The original design (in software) of our kicker only used an encoder and a reed switch.
This software was buggy, sometimes it would not know when to return and continue applying power after it reached the hard stop. (I blame the encoder... )

Needing a quick fix, the current sensing feature of the kicking jag was used to terminate the kick if it was stalled (meaning it either reached the hard stop, or got stuck on something else ) .

This fix worked well enough that no more modifications were needed for the rest of the season.

And like Dale, our magnet uses the current to detect a ball.
(This is used mostly for auto)
It stops it if the ball gets too far in, but isn't needed as much to prevent blowing the motor. (Its a CIM)

The use of current sensing was an after thought, but because we had the capability, it was very useful.
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