Well, we’ve been working on setting up our motor drive system and ran into a bit of a problem.
We’ve been running each motor to a single Jaguar, but now we’re thinking one of the Jaguars might have died on us. I’ve heard varying opinions on this matter, and basically wanted to see if I could get some solid information.
Basically, would we be able to run both motors connected to a single Gearbox through a single Jaguar, or do we need two control modules, one for each motor on one side?
If we can do this, are there any adverse affects or downfalls, or anything that we should be aware of?
If we can consolidate each side to a single Jaguar, I think it’ll make everything much easier, but I wanted to see if anyone has experience with this first before we try and push it.
<R55> All electrical loads (motors, actuators, compressors) must be supplied by an approved power regulating device (speed controller, relay module, or Digital Sidecar PWM port) that is controlled by the cRIO-FRC on the ROBOT.
A. Each CIM motor and Fisher-Price motor must be connected to one and only one approved speed controller. These motors must not be connected to relay modules.
As Mark pointed out, this would be illegal. Our team thought the same thing, luckily we double checked the manual. If you think that your part is dead, I would suggest a quick order to AndyMark.
I believe that rule says one controller per motor. I remember in 2005 we ran two FP motors on one victor because we got the 6V FP motors, and that was legal. I see no advantage to run two motors off of one controller other than cost savings.
The only repurcussion I can think of is that you’ll only be able to utilize part of the power of two cims as your electrical power will be limited to ~420watts. Of course it will also be a whole lot easier to pop a single 40Amp breaker with 2 CIMs.
<R49> Each power-regulating device (speed controller or relay module) shall control **one and only one **electrical load (motor, actuator or compressor).
A. Exception: Multiple low-load, pneumatic solenoid valves may be connected to a single relay module. This would allow one relay module to drive multiple pneumatic actions. No other electrical load can be connected to a relay module used in this manner.
(emphasis mine)
It may have been a special exception because some teams, like ours, got FP motors that were only rated to 6v, so running two in series gave you the same current draw at the same voltage as one 12v FP.
Running multiple motors of one Victor has never been allowed. No exceptions have ever been issued to bypass that rule. There was a rule exception issued that allowed teams to run 6v Fisher-Price motors at 12v, due to a mix-up in motor models supplied by F-P. But that exception did not allow teams to gang multiple motors on the same speed controller. If any teams were doing that, then their robots were in violation of the rules.