I want to create an isolated turret system with shooter, using “wcp greyt shooter” and “wcp greyt turret”, and to reduce costs I was trying to find a way to power and control the 2 falcon 500s required to accomplish this task without use of the PDP and RoboRio.
First question: Does it have to be FRC-legal?
Second question: Do you have to use Falcon 500s? Cost may decrease if you’re willing to use a different motor (and there may be more options available–IIRC Falcons don’t run PWM).
You’d need a 12V source that can provide plenty of current, a control board of some kind, and motor controllers if you’re not using the Falcons. If you are using the Falcons you’ll need a CAN -capable controller–CTRE’s Hero board should work fine. (If you’re not using Falcons but still want CAN, see same.) If you’re using PWM, just about any microcontroller will have some capability to send PWM signals.
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It does not need to be FRC legal and this was very helpful. Do you have any recommendations for the motor controllers and motors?
If it were me, doing this for fun… Spark controller (~$50), 775-type motor (either Pro or Redline) ($20), and enough reduction to get the RPM down to manageable. I’d also consider running a NEO (550?) with a SparkMax.
The trick with using the Spark family is that you can then use PWM from an Arduino or R/C controller–AndyMark may have some control systems you’d be interested in, look under “hobby”. Which would depend on what I was trying to do.
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This was so helpful thank you so much. I’m planning on mounting this in my trunk for fun.
