Spring 2016 RoFi: Voltage Regulator Trade-Off Study
Christopher Andelin (Project Manager)
Mario Ramirez (Systems Engineer)
Qui Du (Manufacturing Engineer)
Andrew Laqui (Electronics and Controls Engineer)
Henry Ruff (Electronics and Controls Engineer)
Voltage Regulator Trade-Off Study
Andrew Laqui (Electronics & Control)
Delivering power to the servos requires a voltage regulator to transform the high voltage from the battery to a lower voltage for RoFi’s servos.
These larger voltage regulators are used instead of the much smaller voltage regulator chips because the small chips are rated for much smaller currents than what RoFi will be using. These Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC) are all rated for at least 5A. The following link details the difference between different regulators like UBEC ESCs and Opto ESCs.
http://blacktieaerial.com/opto-vs-bec-escs-use-ubec/
The following table compares the relevant specifications to determine which one will be the best for RoFi.
Table 1: Voltage Regulators
The Detrum Dynam 5A is the regulator that came with RoFi at the beginning of the semester, but after some testing and watching videos from the previous semesters, it has been concluded that this regulator did not deliver enough continuous current. According to the specifications, it was only able to deliver at the most 7.5A continuously. The RioRand® F-20A 20AMP and ARRIS Simonk 30A offer enough continuous current which will allow all twelve servos to draw their expected amount of 16.8A. This amount of current is verified by the Systems Engineer.
The following is the most updated Power Report.
Table 2: Power Report
Across the board, the RioRand® F-20A 20AMP is the preferred regulator since it is a much simpler design compared to the ARRIS Simonk 30A. Since the ARRIS Simonk 30A is an Opto ESC, it will still require an external UBEC to deliver the power to the servos.
The RioRand® F-20A 20AMP regulator was chosen mainly because it can deliver enough continuous current while also offering the simplest design. Although the Detrum Dynam 5A is already used on RoFi and the ARRIS Simonk 30A can deliver the most continuous current, the RioRand® F-20A 20AMP is relatively cheap because it can be ordered with Amazon Prime and also delivers enough continuous current.
The following are links to the websites of each respective regulator.
http://graysonhobby.com/dynam-5a-5-0v-6-0v-ubec.html
http://www.hobby-wing.com/arris-30a-opto-esc.html?gclid=COTjjObKwcsCFYqPfgodOV4NIQ