Has anyone ever powered a roboio (or cRio) using a plug-in 12 volt power supply? I was thinking that it would be convenient to power it that way instead of using the battery/PDP when testing out code to drive sensors, arduino, etc (anything with low current requirements).
I picture the 12 volt supply feeding directly into the PDB, or possibly right to the roborio (although that would bypass any over-voltage protection provided by the PDP).
I use a 12v 2A wallwart directly into my roboRIO (but I’m not trying to run anything else). The only protection the PDP provides is a fuse.
We regularly power a robot control system with a 12v linear power supply. The one I have wired to an SB50 connector is capable of only a few amps, so we can’t run any motors, but everything else works okay.
(Trying to use a switching power supply on the older PDB, with its own internal switching power supplies, was not a consistent success.)
I’ve also used a 12v, 2A supply directly wired into the roboRIO. Something like this.
Also have used an old ATX computer power supply with the cRIO and roboRIO with no issues.
In a pinch I used a CAN Connector to connect a 12V wall supply to andersons, and have been using it ever since [hey it works for power too 
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I suppose I could have grabbed a RIO connector instead.
Thanks for all the feedback - I feel more comfortable going forward. This will be a convenience as we are trying to step up our use of sensors and automation this year.
In past years we’ve used the power adapter included with the D-Link radios as a power source for cRIOs/RoboRIOs.
IIRC the D-Link took 5V and the cRIO took 12-24V. That doesn’t sound like a good combination. Do I remember incorrectly?
We have a 12V power supply we use to test both the cRIO/roboRIO for programming and the entire robot if we are doing long bench tests and don’t want to have to keep switching batteries.
I’m thinking about getting one of these for our benchbot
Supposedly 12 100 AMP - Put the normal connector on it (Anderson? ) and use it through the pdp just like it was a battery. I’m thking 100 AMP would be enough even to power 2 CIM’s if they have no load on them right?
According to Andymark, a CIM motor’s free current is 2.7 amps. That is if it has absolutely no load on it. 100 amps will be more than enough to power 2 CIM motors at free speed. The problem comes when you attach them to gearboxes and wheels. I’d still say with a properly geared gearbox that you’re pretty safe doing a 2 CIM drive off a 100 amp power source.
