Brownout Prevention?

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Sir_Fenwick

NOTE: This solution does not fix the problem of brownouts, rather it provides a way to eliminate the brownout from affecting the compressor...
Instead of running the compressor off of the PCM as is normal, run it instead off of a spike using 20 Amp breaker. Connect the spike directly to the power distribution board with a 20 Amp breaker, then connect the spike's PWM to one of the RoboRIO's relay pins. Connect the compressor to the spike, and with a little coding, the compressor will be unaffected by any brownouts.

Brownouts turn off all actuator outputs from the roboRIO, including relay outputs. The compressor will still shut down when the battery voltage drops into the brownout zone.

Originally Posted by nighterfighter

Also doing it this way allows you to turn the compressor OFF when you are in a high-current draw situation, where every last bit of power helps.

You can turn off the compressor at will using the PCM connections too.