Go to Post Hmmm... I'm pretty sure that twig isn't legal, since the tree it came from started fabrication before kickoff.... - lukevanoort [more]
Home
Go Back   Chief Delphi > Technical > Electrical
CD-Media   CD-Spy  
portal register members calendar search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read FAQ rules

 
Closed Thread
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 12:20
phestnes phestnes is offline
Registered User
FRC #2849 (Ursa Major)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Rookie Year: 2013
Location: Hammond High School
Posts: 5
phestnes is an unknown quantity at this point
ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Hi,
Yesterday I noticed that the ground is isolated between the input and output terminal of both the VRM and PCM. This means you cannot power a sensor from the VRM, and expect to reliably read the input on the RoboRio. They are on completely isolated grounds. Does anybody know why that is (i.e., was this done on purpose or was it an oversight)?
Thanks.
  #2   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 12:29
Tom Line's Avatar
Tom Line Tom Line is offline
Raptors can't turn doorknobs.
FRC #1718 (The Fighting Pi)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Rookie Year: 1999
Location: Armada, Michigan
Posts: 2,554
Tom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond reputeTom Line has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Omar Zrien
AKA: Omar
FRC #3539
Team Role: Mentor

Join Date: Sep 2006
Rookie Year: 2003
Location: Sterling Heights, MI
Posts: 135

The VRM is not isolated. If you measure the voltage difference between the VRM ground and the Rio ground you should find it to be very close to zero .
  #3   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 13:06
phestnes phestnes is offline
Registered User
FRC #2849 (Ursa Major)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Rookie Year: 2013
Location: Hammond High School
Posts: 5
phestnes is an unknown quantity at this point
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Thanks for the reply. Measuring the voltage difference won't actually tell you if the grounds are connected or not - only that the grounds are at about the same voltage reference. Depending on the multimeter that you use, you may actually be shorting the ground together with the probes - which would show not voltage differential. I'm actually looking for a resistance measurement between the input ground connection and any/all output ground connections. Mine are reading in the MOhm range....

Thanks!
  #4   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 13:37
philso philso is offline
Mentor
FRC #2587
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Rookie Year: 2011
Location: Houston, Tx
Posts: 940
philso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Quote:
Originally Posted by phestnes View Post
Measuring the voltage difference won't actually tell you if the grounds are connected or not - only that the grounds are at about the same voltage reference.
This is correct.


Quote:
Originally Posted by phestnes View Post
Depending on the multimeter that you use, you may actually be shorting the ground together with the probes - which would show not voltage differential.
What type of multimeter do you have that does this?


Quote:
Originally Posted by phestnes View Post
I'm actually looking for a resistance measurement between the input ground connection and any/all output ground connections. Mine are reading in the MOhm range....
Do you mean megOhm (1,000,000 Ohm) or milliohm (0.001 Ohm) when you write "MOhm"? I can check on our parts when I go to our build site this evening.
  #5   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 13:49
phestnes phestnes is offline
Registered User
FRC #2849 (Ursa Major)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Rookie Year: 2013
Location: Hammond High School
Posts: 5
phestnes is an unknown quantity at this point
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Quote:
Originally Posted by philso View Post
What type of multimeter do you have that does this?
I'm just referring to a simple multimeter design that would effectively place a resistor in parallel with your measurement points. A floating ground would then "ground itself" to the other connected terminal. It isn't a real short.


Quote:
Originally Posted by philso View Post
Do you mean megOhm (1,000,000 Ohm) or milliohm (0.001 Ohm) when you write "MOhm"? I can check on our parts when I go to our build site this evening.
Mega Ohm
  #6   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 13:56
Ether's Avatar
Ether Ether is offline
systems engineer (retired)
no team
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Rookie Year: 1969
Location: US
Posts: 8,125
Ether has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM


Si prefixes

Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	SI prefixes.png
Views:	74
Size:	25.2 KB
ID:	18062  
  #7   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 14:03
tr6scott's Avatar
tr6scott tr6scott is offline
Um, I smell Motor!
AKA: Scott McBride
FRC #2137 (TORC)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Rookie Year: 2005
Location: Oxford, MI
Posts: 535
tr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond reputetr6scott has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Seeing you mentioned sensor power, I am guessing you are having issues getting sensors to work on the roborio, so may want to give this post a read. . .

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hreadid=133484
__________________
The sooner we get behind schedule, the more time we have to catch up.

  #8   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 14:54
philso philso is offline
Mentor
FRC #2587
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Rookie Year: 2011
Location: Houston, Tx
Posts: 940
philso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond reputephilso has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Quote:
Originally Posted by phestnes View Post
I'm just referring to a simple multimeter design that would effectively place a resistor in parallel with your measurement points. A floating ground would then "ground itself" to the other connected terminal. It isn't a real short.

Mega Ohm
The input impedance of a good quality DVM is greater than 10 megOhm. This would not be considered a short. An inexpensive DVM, like the ones from Harbor Freight, may have lower input impedance but it will still not short two circuits together.

If you are really seeing megaOhms between the input an output grounds, it would indicate that the VRM and PCM are isolating.

With your meter set to read resistance, short the two leads together. Verify that you able to get a reading that is less than a few Ohms.
  #9   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 15:09
ozrien's Avatar
ozrien ozrien is offline
Omar Zrien
AKA: Omar
no team
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Rookie Year: 2003
Location: Sterling Heights, MI
Posts: 549
ozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

You cannot measure the DC resistance between the input ground and output ground, and expect a useful measurement, it will be high-z. The reverse battery protection will not allow this. This is true for both PCM and VRM.

The input ground and output ground of the PCM and VRM are not isolated.

Is there a problem that's preventing your robot from functioning?
  #10   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 15:52
phestnes phestnes is offline
Registered User
FRC #2849 (Ursa Major)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Rookie Year: 2013
Location: Hammond High School
Posts: 5
phestnes is an unknown quantity at this point
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Quote:
Originally Posted by ozrien View Post
You cannot measure the DC resistance between the input ground and output ground, and expect a useful measurement, it will be high-z. The reverse battery protection will not allow this. This is true for both PCM and VRM.

The input ground and output ground of the PCM and VRM are not isolated.

Is there a problem that's preventing your robot from functioning?
It's just something I noticed while trying to connect a sensor. The sensor was being powered by the VRM, and read by the RS-232 port on the RoboRio (which ultimately wasn't working). That is what led me to wonder if perhaps the isolated ground reference would be at fault. Out of curiosity - why is there high impedance between the input and output grounds on the PCM and VRM? Is there a technical reason to do this?

Last edited by phestnes : 30-01-2015 at 15:56.
  #11   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 30-01-2015, 16:56
ozrien's Avatar
ozrien ozrien is offline
Omar Zrien
AKA: Omar
no team
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Rookie Year: 2003
Location: Sterling Heights, MI
Posts: 549
ozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

When a VRM/PCM is unpowered or reverse battery'ed it disconnects the ground. Its basic reverse battery protection. When you power a VRM/PCM properly the input and out ground is connected.

This is unlikely your problem. If it was then manually commonizing the Rio and VRM ground would fix it.

Can you oscilloscope the rx pin on the Rio serial port? See if there is actual bytes on the wire. What's the actual symptom? No data bytes or corrupted data bytes?
  #12   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 03-02-2015, 10:18
phestnes phestnes is offline
Registered User
FRC #2849 (Ursa Major)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Rookie Year: 2013
Location: Hammond High School
Posts: 5
phestnes is an unknown quantity at this point
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Is there a way to see the circuit that disconnects the ground?

Once I ran power and ground for sensor off the RoboRio, everything worked fine. This was a floating reference issue.
  #13   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 03-02-2015, 10:48
Tungrus Tungrus is offline
Registered User
no team
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 375
Tungrus is a jewel in the roughTungrus is a jewel in the roughTungrus is a jewel in the roughTungrus is a jewel in the rough
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

No voltmeter (DVM or Analog) will short if its used to measure voltage between two points (by plugging the probes into right sockets on meter or turning the knob/dial to V, depending on the meter). Its the ammeter that is used to measure current in a circuit has very very low resistance and will short circuit when used to measure the potential difference between two points.
  #14   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 03-02-2015, 11:22
Ether's Avatar
Ether Ether is offline
systems engineer (retired)
no team
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Rookie Year: 1969
Location: US
Posts: 8,125
Ether has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond reputeEther has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tungrus View Post
No voltmeter (DVM or Analog) will short if its used to measure voltage between two points
phestnes already clarified what he meant:

Quote:
Originally Posted by phestnes View Post
I'm just referring to a simple multimeter design that would effectively place a resistor in parallel with your measurement points. A floating ground would then "ground itself" to the other connected terminal. It isn't a real short.
...and what he said above can happen with a low ohms-per-volt inexpensive analog voltmeter.


  #15   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 03-02-2015, 15:18
ozrien's Avatar
ozrien ozrien is offline
Omar Zrien
AKA: Omar
no team
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Rookie Year: 2003
Location: Sterling Heights, MI
Posts: 549
ozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond reputeozrien has a reputation beyond repute
Re: ground isolation on VRM and PCM

Quote:
Once I ran power and ground for sensor off the RoboRio, everything worked fine. This was a floating reference issue.
This does not prove that there is a floating reference issue.

As I said earlier, the way to test that is by reproducing the problem with the VRM, then manually commonizing the Rio and VRM ground to see if it fixes the symptom. If adding a common ground wire between the VRM and RIO fixes the symptom, then it could be a ground offset. In which case remove the commonizing ground wire and measure the voltage difference to see how much the offset is.

Since neither the sensor or the VRM is drawing considerable current, AND since they are both powered by the same battery, AND since the VRM is not isolated, I really doubt there is a ground reference offset.

The problem is likely something else, something different about the two supplies or they way they are wired. What sensor are you using? What power rail are you using (12V or 5V)? What are the voltage requirements of your sensor? How much current does your sensor draw?

I'm glad the sensor is working now, but I'm a little worried later in the season it will "suddenly" start giving you trouble again because the root-cause was never determined.
Closed Thread


Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 20:34.

The Chief Delphi Forums are sponsored by Innovation First International, Inc.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © Chief Delphi