Is it possible to connect a scorpion motor controller to the vex cortex? the goal is to use third party motors for more power than the vex motors can provide. If so how would this be done? The motor controller is the “Scorpion XL” by Robot Power.
No, only certified vex parts are allowed. If this was to be allowed, many teams would have unfair advantages with way more powerful motor controllers.
As long as you’re not competing in VRC/Vex IQ/Vex U, you should be able to. If it doesn’t have a 3 wire connector like the one on the Cortex for a motor, you might need to solder a custom adapter. Other than that, it should work.
My biggest concern with using more powerful motors would be the current draw. The Cortex has 2 circuits, each of which can handle 4 amps before the PTCs eventually trip.
just be safe and go with vex
Yes, it should be possible.
The scorpion has its own battery input, it should not draw power from the cortex. It should work, the scorpion is setup to accept RC servo style input, just be careful about the wiring. I doubt many on this forum have any direct experience with this type of controller so you will pretty much be on your own.
Looks interesting! Page says it can switch between PWM signal types. Would one of these settings be set to Vex style PWM? I notice it says one of them will produce an audible whine… We’ve heard that before from Vex motors.
http://www.robotpower.com/products/scorpion_XL_info.html
Frequency - This DIP switch setting switches the Scorpion XL PWM frequency between high and low frequency settings. At low frequency the unit will be able to handle more power due to lower switching losses. However, an audible “whine” sound may be emitted by the motors. The high-frequency setting eliminates this sound as the switching frequency is above the range of human hearing at the cost of somewhat lower power handling capacity.
In previous years, in Frc, we’ve tested mechanisms by connecting the pwm signal cable of the talon frc motor controllers to the vrc edr cortex. (Cortex is cheaper than the roborio) based on that, I’m guessing it probably should work.