electronics box

[Adams High Man]

Hello! our electronics box is quite a few years old, and by the time it was passed on to me, it was quite a mess! i decided to gut it and rewire it. I spent several hours on it, and got it perfect! (at least for USFIRST regulations...) Then i get hold of the OCCRA manual, and it says i need all 14AWG wire! Since I spent several hours, and several dollars on connectors, (those things arnt cheap!) I am reluctant to re-rewire unless i have to. What i have is 10AWG red(+12v) and white(GND) on the speed controllers, and 16AWG red(+12v) and green(GND) on the spike relays. This AWG is the US FIRST standard. Am i going to have to re-rewire it? Only the light and pneumatics will be powered by the relays.

-Thanks

[Mike Martus]

Please see thread on wire gauge.

Also, are you using a box that is the same as the one from last year? Is it the same size and done in the same layout.

There is a purpose for this. make sure it is the same as the layout standard all teams are using.

[Adams High Man]

Thanks for the response!

it is still the origional box we got from occra 2 years ago. as for layout, the microcontroller(robot controller) is on the bottom, with the ports facing towards the port hole in the box (so i assume that would be correct) and the speed controllers are velcroed to the side oppisite the wire hole. The relays are on tbe same side as the wire hole. The circut breaker, fuse box, and ground terminal are all still attached to the box so i assume they are in the correct spot as well. I see that my guages are all correct, so i think im all set... it is all quite pretty to look at.

here is a VERY crude attempt at a picture of it as i remember. If you want, i can take a picture of it next time i am there, but that might not be until next week. (homework catchup this week)
---------------
|-..S..S..S..S...|
|-.....++...MC..|
|-...R..R..R......|
---------------
..................O

S = speed controller
R = relay
MC = microcontroller
- = ground terminal
+ = fuse box
O = wire mounting ring and hole for wires
. = empty space (the forum ignores extra spaces so this is the only way to make it display properly)


on a side note, our microcontroller seems to be acting irrational. I went over to robotics club on tuesday night to do some light building, and tried to turn on the robot. The operator interface couldnt connect, and the only 2 lights lit up on the microcontroller were power on(i think thats what it was), and basic run. Both were solid (the basic run should be blinking). i noodled around with it, and finally got it to work by switching to a tether and then back to radio again. The robot worked. i turned it off for a few hours and did some building. at the end of the night, i tried driving it around again, and the microcontroller was messed up again. tethering didnt fix it again either. pretty wierd eh?

i ripped the microcontroller off our USFIRST robot from last year and replaced the occra one, so now our robot moves, but it would be nice to do something about this messed up microcontoller.

Thanks for the responses,
Jeff Rogers

[Mike Martus]

If you need replacement contact Justin or Mike McIntyre at OTC.

They have a limited supply.