Power Converter 360 CPR

[MagiChau]

You must use the same model of the power convertor that came in the kit, I believe if I remember the rules correctly.

[caffel]

Yes that's the rule R38.
Everyone needs to power their radio and our converter is broken.
Some remedy is required.

[RyanN]

Originally Posted by caffel

Yes that's the rule R38.
Everyone needs to power their radio and our converter is broken.
Some remedy is required.

Order a new one for competition. If you're not using your camera, plug the Dlink into the camera's 5V power connection and use it for now. When you get to competition, unhook it, and connect the power regulator to make your robot legal.

The current supply from the 5V output on the PD board is rated for 3A, which is plenty enough to run the Dlink. The 5V output is not a boost supply, so low battery voltage, or huge current spikes can cut power to the Dlink.

I don't see any issue in doing this. Maybe some other mentors can post and tell me their thoughts.

I know this isn't a FRC legal idea, but to get the team up and running, it seems like a good temporary idea.

[Jon236]

Can someone post a question to the Q&A? That way we can get an official 'fix'.

[Mark 3138]

Originally Posted by Jon236

Can someone post a question to the Q&A? That way we can get an official 'fix'.

Our 360CPR is not working also. We asked Q&A the first part of February what the alternative can be and they have not responded yet.

[Matt Krass]

Originally Posted by RyanN

The current supply from the 5V output on the PD board is rated for 3A, which is plenty enough to run the Dlink. The 5V output is not a boost supply, so low battery voltage, or huge current spikes can cut power to the Dlink.

I don't see any issue in doing this. Maybe some other mentors can post and tell me their thoughts.

I believe you hit the nail on the head here. The 5V supply is only guaranteed to regulate higher voltages safely down to 5V, and not sustain it should the battery voltage sag too much. That said, it's pretty robust and will work pretty close to the 5V mark, but none the less, a sufficiently dead battery could pose problems.

FIRST has a lot going on and simply wants to eliminate debugging radios resetting from low power from all the other stuff that breaks at the most inopportune moments for the field crew The boost supply on the 12V rail helps with that, but it was previously designed for the Linksys bridge, so we need the new converter to bridge the gap between the reliable supply, and the lower voltage radio.

Matt

[scooperman]

Just heard that our power converter is toast. Going there in about an hour to see if I can get things working. Put together a 12V to 5V linear for a temporary patch, hope I don't need it. Probably hook it up to the camera supply until we get a replacement.

Took a look at the D-Link user manual, it uses 3.3V internally with a maximum current of 1.435A. (Never saw a spec of current consumption out to 3 places.) So apparently, there it has an internal dc/dc to drop the 5 down to 3.3V. I would be suprpised if it was less than 85% efficient, so (3.3*1.435/0.85) is 5.6W, which suggests it really needs about 1.11 amps at 5V input.

[RyanN]

Here's the link to order a new one: http://www.current-logic.com/dc_dc_c...RC_360_CPR.php

The parts table at competition may have a few of these in stock for teams to borrow if you cannot get one shipped before competition.

[Andy Baker]

All,

Thanks to a heads up by Joe Ross on this availability issue. I just put a request in to this company to purchase 100 of these converters. If we can get some soon (within 2 weeks?), then we will purchase at least 100 and then offer them for sale through the AndyMark site.

I really don't know how big of an issue this is going to be, so if anyone wishes to send me a PM or email, letting me know that your team may want one, that will help me figure out how many to buy.

Andy B.

[EricVanWyk]

The power converter used in the DSC and the first public revision of the analog breakout module meets the requirements for this task. An ugly but effective hack would be to power one of these with the dedicated (boosted) 12V supply from the PD, and use that to power the radio.

However, there are some drawbacks:

1. This suggestion is not legal by current rules.
2. The circuit couldn't/shouldn't be used for anything else.
3. It is super ugly.

[Andy Baker]

Update from AndyMark:

Our purchase of 100 units has been shipped from China, and we are receiving these this week. A new part on our website has been created (am-0899), and this part will hopefully be available by March 3rd (or a bit later, if the shipment is delayed).

Sincerely,
Andy Baker

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

Update from AndyMark:

Our purchase of 100 units has been shipped from China, and we are receiving these this week. A new part on our website has been created (am-0899), and this part will hopefully be available by March 3rd (or a bit later, if the shipment is delayed).

Sincerely,
Andy Baker

So we can pre-order? I would love to have a spare.

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

So we can pre-order? I would love to have a spare.

We won't take orders on this part until they are in stock. In order to know when they are available, you can click on "email me when back in stock" which is located under the "add to cart" button.

Then, when we make these available, there will be an email sent to you.

Sincerely,
Andy

[ChuckDickerson]

Just FYI for planning purposes: I ordered 2 for our team directly from the source (Current Logic) in China on 31 January. They emailed me and said they wouldn't ship until Feb 10th due to a national holiday in China. I am assuming they shipped on Feb 10th as they said. I received them today (Feb 28th) via Chinese Registered mail. Since these have to go through US Customs I would expect a little delay.

If anyone is going to Bayou and needs to borrow one let 456 know. We will have a couple of spares.