Venom is a brushed DC motor based on the original 2.5" CIM, which has been used by FIRST Robotics Competition teams for the past 18 years. The traditional CIM is a "dumb" motor, requiring a suite of external controllers and sensors. Venom integrates all of these functions into a single, compact package.

So how "smart" is Venom? Speed, current, temperature, and position are all measured onboard, enabling advanced control modes without complicated sensing and wiring schemes. This includes proportional duty cycle and voltage control, closed-loop current (torque), speed, and servo (position) control, follow-the-leader, and motion profiling controls. There are also external inputs for limit switches and an analog signal. All of these features are accessed via the CAN (Controller Area Network) interface, which is designed for FRC communication. WPILib compatible libraries for LabVIEW, C++, and Java are provided.

Venom was designed for convenience and simplicity. The motor controller and speed encoder were designed around the CIM (its rear bearing actually). There are no concerns about mechanical compatibility between third party sensors. There are no calculations required to convert encoder counts into speed. All motor parameters are presented in native engineering units (speed in RPM, voltage in Volts, position in rotations, current in Amps, etc.).

For teams which prefer to avoid CAN communication, Venom may be controlled through a PWM signal.

Venom was designed for competition. Onboard thermal management protects the CIM and integrated controller from excessive duty cycles at high load. A rear-facing LED provides diagnostic trouble codes to help quickly diagnose issues. The integrated design allows the entire motor, controller, and sensor package to be replaced as a single compact assembly.

In addition to the “smart” upgrades, we’ve also made the CIM stronger. Front and rear bushings have been upgraded to ball bearings to reduce friction, increase efficiency and extend battery life. The wiring was also upgraded from 14 ga external wiring for 12 ga high-strand. These power lines are more flexible than the stock motor and serve to further increase electrical efficiency. A die-cast aluminum endplate protects the internal electronics and serves as an integrated heatsink.

Features

• Integrated smart controller
• Internal velocity/position sensing including signed speed output
• Front and rear ball bearings
• 12-ga flexible power connections
• Die cast rear endplate with integrated heatsink
• Onboard temperature sensing
• Onboard electrical current sensing
• CAN interface (1Mbps)
• PWM input (shared with CAN line)
• External header for limit switches, analog input

Control Modes

• Proportional duty cycle
• Proportional voltage
• Closed-loop current control
• Closed-loop velocity control
• Closed-loop position control
• True s-curve trajectory planning in velocity control mode
• Trapezoidal trajectory planning in position control mode
• Configurable PID gains including feedforward terms
• Motion profiling
• Configurable brake / coast
• "Follower" (of other Venom devices)

Other Integrated Controls / Software Features

• Thermal management / power limiting
• Resettable odometer (since power-up)
• Bi-color status LED to report connection status and internal errors
• Configurable CAN ID. Up to 63 devices supported on a single bus
• Unique Serial Number accessible via CAN
• CAN-updateable firmware

Venom price comparison

Videos

Dual Venom Ball Shooter With Follower Mode for 2020 FRC Game