Kangaroo Power

[cpapplefamily]

I'm hesitant but ready to cut the power cable that came with our Kangaroo and tap into a 12 vdc source on the robot. The power adapter says Output 12 vdc 3 amp. During long demos and I worry at events we will forget to charge the Kangaroo at the most needed times.

Any reason why we should not do this?
Is there more going on in the power pack that came with the Kangaroo?

[jimbo493]

Most likely no, but it would probably be best to run the Kangaroo off one of the 12v 2a regulated plugs on the VRM since the battery voltage will tend to jump around off the battery. During your operation, it shouldn't draw more than 2a because I assume you won't be running any video out of it. If it does become and issue you could get a 12v reg off of amazon for fairly cheap and plug into a 10a breaker on the PDP.

[cpapplefamily]

Will have to see what other HAVE done. Looked some on Amazon but have not see the a-ha device. Our VRM is well tasked currently. I'm guessing that's 2 amp for the set of 2 amp ports not 2 amps each.

The regulators I seen so far request a greater voltage to step down to 12vdc

[Kyle Luiten]

We power our Kangaroo from the 12V 2A supply on the VRM without any issue. During a competition, we also charge it between matches with the original power supply to avoid a low battery during a match.

I would highly recommend using Powerpole or similar connectors where you cut the cord so you can use the plug both on the robot and with the original power supply.

If you're worried about overloading the VRM 2A connections with multiple devices, you can always connect another VRM module to the PDP (although this may be more costly than a similar buck-boost device from Amazon).

[cpapplefamily]

I was going to order just in case but

The regulators I seen so far request a greater voltage to step down to 12vdc

Any suggestions? I'm not quite finding the correct search words.

[Lireal]

Originally Posted by cpapplefamily

Our VRM is well tasked currently. I'm guessing that's 2 amp for the set of 2 amp ports not 2 amps each.

If you have a second VRM, you are allowed by the rules to use multiple.