Legality of running a capacitor inline with roboRIO power

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by ImOn3618

We have a rigorous standard for competition batteries, and start each machine with a fresh, fully charged battery, so I doubt that's the issue.

However, we have a very high traction drive train (brecoflex treads with about a 1.5 CoF, 750ish N force of kinetic friction while driving). The gear ratio on the drive belts is 14.2:1 using RAWboxes. While the drive train definitely contributes to our issue, there's not much we can do about it with 6hours of unbag time.

Beyond just charging them, do you do any tests on them to gauge the batteries overall health?

[ImOn3618]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

Beyond just charging them, do you do any tests on them to gauge the batteries overall health?

We track and compile data from a battery beak, including power output, drain rate, and changes in amperage at various voltages. If they get below a certain threshold we stop using that battery and recycle it. We've also used FRC2619's battery maintenance guide in the past.

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by ImOn3618

We track and compile data from a battery beak, including power output, drain rate, and changes in amperage at various voltages. If they get below a certain threshold we stop using that battery and recycle it. We've also used FRC2619's battery maintenance guide in the past.

That's good, should rule out a bad battery. There is a really easy solution to this problem: don't change direction really quickly.train your drivers to not do it anymore and you won't do it anymore.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by ImOn3618

...drain rate...

What are the units of "drain rate" and how do you measure it?

[ImOn3618]

It's just power output compared to ℅ battery charge. We use it to get a rough idea of how fast our batteries are being drained. Older, worse batteries tend to lose charge faster.

Theoretically, loss of 30℅ charge from 100% is normal for us. So about 12.5v to 8.75v per match, according to our multimeters

[Ether]

Originally Posted by ImOn3618

It's just power output compared to ℅ battery charge.

I'm still puzzling how you measure this. How do you measure power?

[ImOn3618]

It's voltage, not power(joules), my bad.