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"...you will need a switching regulator and it still wont be pretty". Care to elaborate?
use linear regulators for high precision low noise voltage electronics: microcontroller, sensorsuse switching regulators to coarsely drop voltages: usually actuators that will overheat if you dont, such as servos that have voltage maximum limits (for example, a 12V battery for a 4.8V servo)
Quoteuse linear regulators for high precision low noise voltage electronics: microcontroller, sensorsuse switching regulators to coarsely drop voltages: usually actuators that will overheat if you dont, such as servos that have voltage maximum limits (for example, a 12V battery for a 4.8V servo)Good breakdown - I'll add one more thought to this philosophy though - "Bypass the heck out of your switching regulator using some good ceramic caps". Common-mode noise, generated by the switching element(s) of the switchmode regulator, and coupled to the robot chassis through the SMPS transistor/FET heatsink, can get into your whole system and cause all kinds of "mysterious" interference issues. Bypassing the regulator output terminals to chassis ground, using a pair of 4700pF caps can save a world of trouble. A 1uF ceramic cap placed right across the output won't hurt, either.
So what would you recommend using as a substitute for chassis ground if my robot will be mostly plastic?
What I was actually wondering is how many of the switching regulators http://www.dimensionengineering.com/DE-SWADJ.htm you could stack in parallel to get how much current since most DC gear motors I've seen are rated at 3 to 4 amps a piece (and I will need 2, 6 - 8 amps). I was wondering if anyone has ever stacked 6 to 8 of these and how it went. However, I've decided to go with the unregulated source but I'm still curious if this can provide 6 to 8 amps of current at a stable voltage.