My team are building a swerve drivetrain as an off-season project.
We are using 4 modules. On each of them we use a CANCoder which connects to the 12V 500mA port on the VRM. The problem is that on the VRM we have only 2 such ports.
How might we overcome this problem?
I thought we might connect all of them together to one 12V 2A port so the current splits between the 4. Will it work? Is it even legal according to the rules?
A CANcoder only draws max 60mA of current (50mA nominal) per it’s product page/datasheet. You should be perfectly safe wiring them all into a single 500mA VRM port (more specifically, you should be capable of running up to 8 CANcoders off of one 500mA VRM port).
We did this for the CANcoders on our swerve drive modules this season and it worked just fine.
To make it easier we use these: https://www.amazon.com/Wago-221-415-LEVER-NUTS-Conductor-Connectors/dp/B06XH47DC2. It allows you to combine all 4 wires neatly.
Right now we are using the one port on the VRM using a wago splitter. Next year we plan on using the REV mini power module for the CANcoders and the Pigeon2
We also used WAGO connectors for the job. They are incredibly handy.
@inspectors/people who read the manual more than I did, is this legal? It doesn’t feel legal…
Yes, provided it meets all other rules*. Specifically, the blue box under R618 makes it legal. You can only have 1 wire going into each of those ports on the VRM, but can split off after that to multiple devices. At that point, your multiple encoders are essentially one big custom circuit.
*See R616 part A, R622 (last section), etc.
Ok, sweet, thanks for the explanation.
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