how do u hook up things through the fuse panel?

[chrisw]

We have been tinkering around with the fuse panel but have ended up with no luck, the fuses are in the right way but we cant seem to figure out where the positive wires and negative wires connect? which wire goes to the robot controller? (the ones on the sides or the one in the bottom) I hate it when things arent label properly

fuse panel (black)- found in electronics kit

|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
< | ==== ==== | > <-- positive or negative wire?
< | ==== ==== | >
< | ==== ==== | >
< | ==== ==== | >
< | ==== ==== | >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| __ | ==== <- fuse slots
| | O | |
| ~~~ |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Jay Lundy]

I don't remember exactly how the fuse panel is layed out, but I know the fuses are on the positive end.

So plug the positive side of the battery into the breaker, then take it from the breaker to the big screw in the middle of the fuse area of the fuse panel. The negative side of the battery goes to the big screw near the area that is all metal with no fuses.


< | ==== ==== | > <-- positive
< | ==== ==== | >
< | ==== O ==== | >
< | ==== ==== | >
< | ==== ==== | >

[Kai Zhao]

I'm pretty sure this year's fuse box and last year's is the same, so this diagram is of last year's box.

I'm not very sure about the poles but I think it doesn't matter provided that you know which one is what and you output properly. (Like you would make sure + goes to + but you don't have to put + on one side of the board).

Hope that helps

[Adrian Wong]

Hm. That's interesting. Our team hooked up the positive terminals to the fuses, and hooked up the negative terminals to the small fuse block in the corner.

[Joseph F]

we assumed that the positive would go to the fuses. The positive wire is the one that the current enters through. You would want it to be stopped at the fuse before it got to the victors or spikes rather than after it blew them. Then again, they do make a cool hissing noise as they melt. :D

[s_alaniz]

Actually, ELECTRICALLY SPEAKING, it doesn't matter if you put the negative terminal on the fused side of the panel or the positive terminal on the fused side of the panel. The effect is the same. (OK I could point out Kirchhoff's current law but talk about overkill...)

HOWEVER!!!!

Traditionally we fuse the positive side because so many electrical systems have a negative GROUNDED chasis. F.I.R.S.T. doesn't allow us to connect our chasis to the negative terminal of the battery so it doesn't matter in this case. But in the unlikely event you did have a negative grounded chasis and fused grounds on your circuits... and you accidently short a positive lead to the chasis... BIG TIME SPARKS!
I'd highly recommend sticking with the traditional method and connect the positive battery post to the fused side for two reasons.

1) it's good practice and most engineers assume the fuse goes on the positive side anyway

AND

2) the diagrams F.I.R.S.T. provides shows the positive terminals fused. (Don't upset the robot inspectors at check in time!)


Best Wishes


Steve Alaniz


"What good is technology if you can't abuse it?" - Ted Forth

[s_alaniz]

Oh Joseph... Actually weird as it seems, electrons flow from the Negative terminal to the positive terminal so current flow is actully from negative to positive.... but since positive CHARGES (AKA Holes) migrate from the positive terminal to the negative terminal it looks like current also flows from positive to negative.... I know.... I need to get a life...

Best Wishes

Steve Alaniz

"Yeah those robots are cool... but if you can't play Nintendo on them, what good are they?" - Hilary Forth

[Joseph F]

I know electrons flow from negative to positive but doesn't the current run positive to negative... which is why you always connect the positive first and disconect it last... or have i been so deprived of sleep lately that even these simple laws are eluding me?

[s_alaniz]

Joseph F


Well ok you win... sort of... Benjamin Franklin defined what we call "conventional" current flow as going from positive to negative however, we now know that electrons flow from negative to positive. Current flow is formally defined as the flow of ELECTRONS through a material OR the flow of CHARGES through a material. SO technically current flow can be considered in either direction as long as you're consistant. My argument against "Conventional" is the fact that an AMP is defined as a coulomb of ELECTRONS past a given point, hence my assurtion that current flow is actually negative to positive and "conventional" flow is a simply a result of the electron flow. On the other hand, you can't have electron flow without the accompanying hole "movement"... it becomes the "Chicken and egg" arguement. You can't have electrons move unless there's a hole to move to, but you can't have a hole move unless the electrons move...
And as for the question of which you connect first... NO... you connect the positive LAST and disconnect it FIRST (rule of thumb for electronic circuits). The reason is because a lot of electronic components have a chasis ground which was pretty standard for a long time and still shows up a lot. Disconnecting the positive side doesn't always guarantee you a dead circuit.
If you're only talking about a known isolated chasis system (like we have in FIRST) and you're disconnecting the battery feed... it doesn't matter which you connect or disconnect first.... The chicken OR the egg... (Did I get that right?)


Best Wishes


Steve Alaniz



"You're saying we can look forward to robots behaving badly and demamding higher salaries." - Sally Forth

[Joseph F]

Looks like I need to head back to omish country. ;) Hm. Seeing as how I did alot of electrical work on the bot last year this could probably explain alot of our problems. j/k