I currently have a 6 motor 7:1 torque ratio for my lift. I need 3 rubber bands on each side so that it can hold up the game objects. the robot can lift itself up without rubber bands and hold it, however, since i need the rubber bands, i need a solution so that the lift can keep its position while holding the elements. I could either put 2 more motors on the lift or i thought of making some sort of PID or Lift Engagement program so that when is lift is off the ground, the motors will be engaged slightly but not enough to move it. I figured i would have to put Potentiometers on the lift so that i can find the position, but i cant figure out a way to start this program idea. Any thoughts of how to start?
Your idea isn’t hard. Using a potentiometer, use the debug tool in RobotC to find the value when your arm/intake would be touching the ground. Just make it so that while you are not inputting any control towards the arm and it is off the ground, using your potentiometer value, the arm is moving at a low speed of 10. This should counteract gravity and keep your lift stabilized while having the game objects.However, every robot is different. You can play around with that low speed number until your robot is stable without game objects and with game objects. What you would be writing would be a P loop (Just to make it simple and because PID is most useful for autonomous and Driver Skills). You can do some research on the forums or on the magical Google.
Would doing this degrade motors faster?
wouldn’t it run the battery down faster?
You could say the same for using your drive motors to maneuver the field. Does that degrade the motors and run down the battery? Yes, but you do it anyways because you need to.
Sorry that I didn’t respond sooner. @GameBreaker is correct. If you have a problem and a possible solution, why wouldn’t you try it. No one else has proposed another way, so this is currently the only solution that @Duke4221c knows about. It would degrade the motors a bit faster while using them, but the benefit outweighs the cost. Also, during competitions, batteries shouldn’t be a problem. You should always have at least 2 fully charged back-up batteries at any given point.
Can a battery be changed during a mach?
No. You can charge the batteries before each match but not during the match. You can also use a power expander and use two batteries.
I have not yet seen fully charged batteries be a problem in a 2 minute match.