Overclocking: Breaking the Limits

In the PC world, Overclocking is forcing your CPU or GPU to run faster than the factory intended.

• You give it more voltage.
• You increase the clock cycle frequency.
• It crunches numbers faster, giving you more Frames Per Second (FPS). The risk? Heat. If you push too hard, the silicon melts or becomes unstable.

In robotics, we do the same thing. But instead of FPS, we want Speed (RPM) and Torque.

Overvolting: The Robot Turbo Button

Most servomotors (the motors that move arms and claws) are rated for 6 Volts. However, the battery on an FTC robot is 12 Volts. Usually, we step the voltage down. But what if we… didn’t? Or what if we stepped it down to 7.4V instead of 6V?

• The Hack: By using a specialized “Servo Power Module” (SPM), we can feed higher voltage to the servos.
• The Result: The servo moves 30% faster and pushes 30% harder. It turns a sluggish arm into a lightning-fast snapper.

The Magic Smoke

In electronics, there is an old joke: “All chips run on magic smoke. If you let the smoke out, they stop working.” Overclocking/Overvolting generates exponential Heat.

• If a CPU gets too hot, it crashes (Blue Screen).
• If a Servo gets too hot using plastic gears, the gears melt.
• If a Servo gets too hot using metal gears, the insulation on the copper wires burns, causing a short circuit. The motor “burns out.”

The Engineering Trade-off

Engineering is about balancing Performance vs. Reliability.

• Safe Engineer: Runs everything at 5V. The robot never breaks, but it moves slowly. It probably loses the race.
• Risky Engineer: Runs everything at 8V. The robot is insanely fast. It dominates the qualifiers. But in the Finals, the claw servo burns out, and the robot is useless.

The best teams find the red line—the absolute limit—and sit just below it. They might run at 7.2V. They might add cooling fans. They calculate the risk. Championships are won on the edge of failure.