Driver Station/Operator Console Power

[Stahl-4121]

We are planning on using a camera pole at worlds. While we are aware of the rules regarding the pole itself, I was wondering about how teams use external monitors. From previous years, I was under the impression that you can only use the AC port for the laptop charger.

Are you able to power a monitor using the AC port on the driver station?

If not, how do teams use external monitors with the high camera?

[Sperkowsky]

I have seen quite a few teams with a power strip on their driver station this year.

If that is technically not allowed you could probably power everything off their built in batteries aside from the monitor. Camera has its own battery, laptop has its own battery, ect. You could put a large battery/small generator on your driver station but that seems excessive.

[pilleya]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

You could put a large battery/small generator on your driver station but that seems excessive.

No, you couldn't put a small generator on your driver station. But you could have a small inverter ( I think you mean this).

I'll need to verify with the manual, but I think that it is fine to bring your own powerstrip

[scca229]

The power receptacle on the player station shelf has a 3amp breaker on it. You can plug whatever you want in it, but tripping that breaker is NOT a field fault if it happens.

[Jpatterson1710]

Originally Posted by scca229

The power receptacle on the player station shelf has a 3amp breaker on it. You can plug whatever you want in it, but tripping that breaker is NOT a field fault if it happens.

Exactly right. I had teams at each regional that I staffed this year doing exactly that. You get only the power supplied from the 3amp breaker, and you can do whatever you want with that. You may not plug any cords into power supplies below or around the driver station. As stated above, if the breaker is tripped on the dedicated power at the driver station, that will not be in any way considered a field fault, and therefore the match would not be replayed for that reason, and the results in no way would be modified.

[James Tonthat]

If you're worried about tripping the breaker. We got one of these a couple weeks ago. Seems to work.

That being said, we just use the 3A plug with our set up and it works fine.

[Philip Arola]

USB monitors are a possibility. They're fairly costly, and poor quality, but they are powered off of the USB port alone.
However, like others have pointed out, be mindful of the 3 amp limit.

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by scca229

The power receptacle on the player station shelf has a 3amp breaker on it. You can plug whatever you want in it, but tripping that breaker is NOT a field fault if it happens.

This. If there is some rule we all missed about the driver station power, it's not being enforced anywhere I'm aware of.

IMO, the biggest thing to be mindful of is how many amps you're pulling, so while some teams have managed to use large flat-screen TVs for their driver stations, there are certainly plenty of more practical (and reliable) solutions out there (though the idea is certainly appealing). Our team used a 10" car backup camera screen with HDMI input, we set it up as a 2nd monitor for our laptop and ran our camera via USB off of that. The screen had a minimal impact on power so we were confident we wouldn't be popping breakers (it also came with a nice mounting solution that allowed us to stick it on our existing driver station).

[scca229]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

This. If there is some rule we all missed about the driver station power, it's not being enforced anywhere I'm aware of.

IMO, the biggest thing to be mindful of is how many amps you're pulling, so while some teams have managed to use large flat-screen TVs for their driver stations, there are certainly plenty of more practical (and reliable) solutions out there (though the idea is certainly appealing). Our team used a 10" car backup camera screen with HDMI input, we set it up as a 2nd monitor for our laptop and ran our camera via USB off of that. The screen had a minimal impact on power so we were confident we wouldn't be popping breakers (it also came with a nice mounting solution that allowed us to stick it on our existing driver station).

This is the only passage in the Game Manual that mentions the outlet, in the Arena section:

One 120VAC NEMA 5-15R power outlet. It is located on the right side of each PLAYER STATION
shelf. The outlet is protected by a 3-Amp circuit breaker and can be used to power the
OPERATOR CONSOLE. DRIVE TEAMS are responsible for monitoring their power consumption
as a tripped breaker in the outlet does not constitute an ARENA fault.

It is yours to do with what you will, but it is also your responsibility to know that what you are plugging in will not cause it to pop.

[theawesome1730]

A 3 amp breaker seems very small, but don't let it scare you. You get ~360 watts, we can say 300 watts safely. My MacBook Pro has an 85 watt charger and that seems reasonable as an average for a driver station laptop. Now you have 215 watts to work with. The Dell LED monitor that I own consumes somewhere around 20 watts. Now you have 195 left. Slightly less than 1.5 amps used out of the 3 you're given so it's likely a safe bet. You can always set up a prototype rig and determine your wattage by measuring the current you use with an ammeter.

[pilleya]

If the 3 amp breaker is an issue for you, maybe you could come to the Australia Regional next year?

You could draw more than twice the power because Australia uses 240v

[Jaci]

Originally Posted by pilleya

If the 3 amp breaker is an issue for you, maybe you could come to the Australia Regional next year?

You could draw more than twice the power because Australia uses 240v

Lucky for us, the awesome FTA gave us Australian Power Boards behind the DS going into the mains. Perfect considering the DS ports were american

[frcguy]

We ran with a power strip integrated into our driver station and hand no issues powering our 24" dell monitor and DS laptop.