NEW 2009 Control System Released

[ABlackburn]

Originally Posted by Gdeaver

It looks like the power distribution pannel produces 24 volts for the compact rio. So what happens under heavy load and the 12 volt battery is pulled very low? I don't see any back up battery. I didn't see any specs on power consumption for the rio and the moduals and the access point. Did some one forget how first teams love to abuse thier motors and Batteries? Seams to me there needs to be a battery back up.

I was worried about this too. I asked NI about this exact question, and they say it has a boost converter. For those that don't know what it is (I'm not all too clear on it myself) it is a device whic can take a supplied voltage and increase it to the desired voltage, but will possibly drain a battery faster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boost_converter

now I'm thinking the same thing most other teams are also thinking. Faster battery drain? Those batteries can just make it through these matches as it is, so this may just be too much.

My prediction for next year:

Different Batteries