The do's and do not's when shifting

[WesleyK]

Originally Posted by Joe G.

If you have the programming skill to do it, consider adding the option to auto-shift to low when the PDP sees current spikes on the drive motors. Six CIMs with high gearing can and will trip the main breaker or brown out the RoboRIO, and good code can react faster than a driver.

Encoders can be placed anywhere you would on a normal drivetrain. Depending on where they're placed and how they're used, you may need to compensate for the change in ratio elsewhere in the robot in your code to get an accurate reading.

So would placing an encoder on the output shaft of the gear box and limit the motor power based on that be enough to prevent overdraw or would we have to monitor the rpm and current draw of each individual cim using a CIMcoder and a current sensor on each motor?