pic: SPARK Motor Controller from REV Robotics

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by Munchskull

My apologies. To be honest I have only been looking at motor controller prices since 2014 so I had little frame of reference for what prices used to be.

By the way, $60-$25 =! $45

Excited for more options, but will go with the more compact solution for the time being.

-Mike

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

By the way, $60-$25 =! $45

Excited for more options, but will go with the more compact solution for the time being.

-Mike

+1 to this. Robot real estate is premium.

Though having ran a team in college whose robot budget was generally sub $1000, have a quality cheap option is awesome for the community as a whole.

[Conor Ryan]

Congrats Greg! This is a big step for Rev!

Do you have any data on the linearity?

[dk5sm5luigi]

Reading these comments really shows how far we have come. There used to be a time when the only choice available was Tekin Speed Controllers and they liked to catch on fire...

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by Conor Ryan

Do you have any data on the linearity?

Since it's a 15(.625) kHz controller, I'd be very surprised if it's not as linear as the other 15 kHz controllers.

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by cgmv123

Since it's a 15(.625) kHz controller, I'd be very surprised if it's not as linear as the other 15 kHz controllers.

Even among the existing 15kHz controllers there is a quite a bit of variation on the linearity of the output though.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by dk5sm5luigi

There used to be a time when the only choice available was Tekin Speed Controllers and they liked to catch on fire...

You know there's only a few of us left on here that would have any clue what you're talking about. It's actually even before my time. Oh how far we have come.

[Greg Needel]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

By the way, $60-$25 =! $45

Excited for more options, but will go with the more compact solution for the time being.

-Mike

Mike, thanks for the feedback. We know that this is not the speed controller for everyone. Many people will still opt to pay a bit more for both a space savings and/or CAN controls. That is totally cool with us, as every team needs to make their own weighted decisions.

When we built this we were really focused on the bottom up; building a controller that the rookies and struggling teams could use and afford, while still providing the performance that top teams require. From a business standpoint, we would love to have these riding on every machine in FIRST we know that there are several other very good options out there for teams.

Originally Posted by Conor Ryan

Congrats Greg! This is a big step for Rev!

Do you have any data on the linearity?

The output of the SPARK is linear, comparable with the other modern controllers on the market. We have the testing data, and will be releasing it in the near future (along with some other testing documentation).

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Ty Tremblay

It's closer to a Talon SR / Victor SP. No CAN support, PWM only.

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

There are 2 limit switch inputs right on the controller that can support normally open or normally closed switches. Each one acts as an end stop, making it really easy to implement movement limits on any mechanism with no code or setup required.

we choose not to add CAN support at this time, because we were focused on providing a low cost and easy to use controller for everyone.

This is also great news for those of us who control motors with arduinos and other non-FRC control systems which support PWM but not CAN. I had feared that the PWM was going to go away in favor of an all-CAN infrastructure. The introduction of a new PWM controller seems to push that at least a few years down the road.

The low cost with built-in limit switch support is great - it should be sufficient for many applications!

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

+1 to this. Robot real estate is premium.

Though having ran a team in college whose robot budget was generally sub $1000, have a quality cheap option is awesome for the community as a whole.

And that team in college hasn't really changed in terms of robot budget. It was really nice getting like 5 or 7 Victor 888s this year from FIRST Choice.

[D_Price]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

You know there's only a few of us left on here that would have any clue what you're talking about. It's actually even before my time. Oh how far we have come.

Those were by far the worst. On that note great work by REV and can not wait for more products.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

Even among the existing 15kHz controllers there is a quite a bit of variation on the linearity of the output though.

Do you have any data on this?

[philso]

It is nice to have another option, especially at a lower price.

Is the "Brake/Coast Mode" next to the positive power input terminal an LED or one of those tiny rotary switches?

Is the enclosure fully isolated or is there a metal pad on the back that is at some voltage potential?

Does the PWM input connect directly to an optocoupler LED or does it have a current limiting resistor in series with the LED? We have had trouble connecting several motor controllers of different types to the same PWM signal because the optocoupler LED's had different forward voltages and only the controller with the lowest VF would actually run.

[mwmac]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

By the way, $60-$25 =! $45

Excited for more options, but will go with the more compact solution for the time being.

-Mike

BTW, $60 - $25 = $35...

[dyanoshak]

Originally Posted by philso

Is the "Brake/Coast Mode" next to the positive power input terminal an LED or one of those tiny rotary switches?

It is a button that is accessible through a small hole. A bent paperclip works well.

Originally Posted by philso

Is the enclosure fully isolated or is there a metal pad on the back that is at some voltage potential?

The enclosure and heat sink are fully isolated.

Originally Posted by philso

Does the PWM input connect directly to an optocoupler LED or does it have a current limiting resistor in series with the LED? We have had trouble connecting several motor controllers of different types to the same PWM signal because the optocoupler LED's had different forward voltages and only the controller with the lowest VF would actually run.

There is a resistor in series with the optocoupler LED.

Thanks for your questions!