We are looking to upgrade our vision processor from a Beelink to something else (OrangePi? Old laptop? Small child?) What ways do you power your vision processor? Our concern is robot voltage dropping and vision freezing or shutting off during a match.
We use these dc - dc converters off of amazon with the metal heatsync, I don think this is the exact one ill try and find the one we used for our beelink when I get home.
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I had one of these kicking around - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078Q1624B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
And for the barrel connector, these works for us - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CJE0ZLI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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We are using an OPi 5 (and previously an ODROID XU4). For both, we have used a Buck converter which can output up to 4-5A, like these:
(not sure if it is the exact model).
For the OPi5, we wire the output to a USB-C pigtail, also from Amazon.
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This Pololu regulator worked well with the Beelink. No issues. Pololu 12V Step-Up/Step-Down Voltage Regulator S18V20F12
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The key to answering your question is to understand what your parameters are and selecting accordingly. How many volts/amps does the device require? How many volts/amps can or will your source provide? Are you stepping up voltage or stepping down, or maybe a bit both? You need to match the requirements with the abilities of the voltage regulator. OrangePi will be different from Beelink, etc… The pololu.com site has a nice wide variety to select from and they do seem to be decent quality and pretty popular.
A less serious suggestion than some of the others here, but a good read nonetheless
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I would recommend against using these unless you can find one with a lower minimum voltage. 8V is in the “browns out regularly” territory.
Plan on adjusting it to 19V output, should work well.
What coprocessor do you run? That’s pretty high.
A MinisForum UM560XT mini PC.
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This is a tangential suggestion and probably not applicable if you have just one processor, but we plan to use 2 orange pi 5s and our addressable LED strip, which all run on 5V, so the thought is to use one “big” voltage converter and put it between the PDH and the REV mini power module (which is just a breaker board with no voltage-sensitive internal electronics). This way we have one converter to worry about and 8? 5V connection points, which is more than enough.
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Random step-down converter board we got from our local hobby store for our orangepi. It needs 5 volts so no need to battle the voltage drop, as long as your board supports variable input voltages and can sustain the amps needed it’ll work. Bonus points if it has an adjustable amp limit so that you won’t fry your coprocessor. Make sure to isolate it well or the inspectors (rightfully) won’t be happy.
So it seems like a lot are using buck converters. I didn’t realize those would hold the output voltage steady when the voltage input dropped. I guess we will need to grab some of those. Last year we ran a Beelink and I think connected it to the CTRE regulator and it worked, but I suspect that was more luck than anything.
Buck converters are useful when the output voltage is BELOW the input (e.g., your coprocessor needs 5V). Be aware that they have a dropout voltage which is the minimum the input must be above the output for it to operate. For many, this is small enough (<1V) that we need not worry about it in typical robot usage.
If you need the ability to regulate ABOVE the input - e.g. the 19V discussed above for some applications - then you need a boost converter instead. Be aware that many boost converters will “pass through” the input if it is above the output - for example, if you’re regulating to 12V but your battery is at 12.5 the output may also see 12.5.
And you can always get a buck/boost converter which goes either way, giving you the widest possible input range.
This post about voltage regulators from our build thread last year may also be of interest.
A word of caution: we used the vrm to power a Raspberry PI directly and accidently plugged it into the 12V rail instead of the 5V rail, which ruined the then $150+ out-of-stock sbc.
We considered using a small child, using chicken nuggies as reward/power and electrical current as “motivation”. However, we (everyone else on the team) encountered some legal, logistical, and “moral” issues in this implementation, so we opted for the PI 3B that we had lying around.
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Put another way, your planned research paper on “Successful application of real-time visual pattern recognition using reinforcement learning of a carbon-based neural network” was rejected by the IRB (Institutional Review Board)?
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Additionally, we were planning on reporting our ventures into “evolutionary methods for the training of physical-space-efficient biological neuron-based neural networks for low-latency pattern recognition.” However due to high production and maintenance costs of this program, we had to transfer our research facility to Somalia (where cost of production and standards of maintenance are low/unregulated). Perhaps as a consequence, our facility was recently “tactically acquired” by local warlords. We have entrusted them with our research and hope they have made significant progress, though our communication with the newly-transfered facility is limited.
If you would like to donate to this new program, please get in contact with one of the Nigerian princes active in the email-space.
Additionally, if you have any clue on how they fit little children in the Limelights, let me know.
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Which voltage regulator do you plan on using?