Hi,
Hobby King is selling capacitor banks as brownout protection in case of servo-caused consumption spikes. Example: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17100__Turnigy_Voltage_Protector_783333uf_3sec_.html
Does this actually make sense and can do something? Would it add an additional safety margin to the APM2.5?
-S
Replies
Soren is correct. This can help if you only have a small problem, but is not a complete solution if you have a real problem. The only real way to ensure you won't have a brownout, is to never have a servo on the same supply circuit as the APM. Period.
See this discussion for much more detail:
http://www.diydrones.com/forum/topics/helicopter-avionics-power-supply
I've been flying big helis, with big, powerful, fast servos for a long time, and have never had a brownout.
Hi,
Well if the brown out happens when many or all servos are running at high speed and/or under high load, a capacitor will only help delay the brownout for 1/100 of a second or something like that, or decrease its probability. The solution is still to get a power supply that can handle full load. Or get 2, one for the computer and one for the servos. The latter solution may still have brownouts at the servos, but that is not really dangerous.
If you want to try capacitors, you can probably get them locally instead of from HK. Just get the largest one you have space for, with a 6V or more voltage rating.
Regards, Soren