pic: 1889's Electrical Module

[Tytus Gerrish]

[cdm-description=photo]26476[/cdm-description]

[efoote868]

We did something like that for Triple Play... it was absolutely atrocious. The graduated student whose brainchild it was is now referred to as sadistic, among other things :p (its easy to blame things upon people who are no longer here)

Anyhow, we found that its now a pain in the rear to trace wires and PWM cables. Makes it very difficult to change or alter anything too....

Best of luck, though!

[sonofdad123]

tracing wires isn't so hard when you have them labeled ;-)
996 may very well attempt something similar to this, it definitely makes port access to the brain much easier (no bending of serial cables). once those extra cables get cleaned/grouped up a little, it should be a pretty awesome setup.

[EnderWiggin]

Are you actually trying to show this off? It looks like my dinner. (spaghetti)

[Nate Laverdure]

Are you actually trying to show this off? It looks like my dinner. (spaghetti)

yummy.

I think it's pretty. I like it, as long as you're confident that you won't have to replace a wire or one of the 40A breakers later on.

[Dan Zollman]

Are you actually trying to show this off? It looks like my dinner. (spaghetti)

Mine too. Just a suggestion: you may want to put this away when it gets close to mealtime, people get hungry, and students start scrounging for food. We have found that it will fool the team members if it's hidden in a cardboard box. Whatever you do, don't put it back in the KOP bins--they look too much like pizza delivery boxes. That's where they look first, so they'll find and eat the electronics right away.

[Jaine Perotti]

Are you actually trying to show this off? It looks like my dinner. (spaghetti)The reason why this design is worth sharing is because of it's compact design. The limited amount of space for electronics on the robot was a challenging design problem that Tytus needed to overcome. The object of this design wasn't to make the electronics very neat or pretty looking, or even accessible. The idea was just to save space. :)

Tytus, do you think you could share a screenshot of the CAD file which shows how components are "sandwiched" between the two plates? This photo doesn't really do it justice.

[EnderWiggin]

One of the advantages of having such a compact electrical system is that it allows you to have short wires and hence less voltage drop from battery to motors.
If I were you I'd take advantage of this compact design and rewire everything and cut all the wires shorter.

[DonRotolo]

One of the advantages of having such a compact electrical system is that it allows you to have short wires and hence less voltage drop from battery to motors.
If I were you I'd take advantage of this compact design and rewire everything and cut all the wires shorter.

I thought short circuits were bad for robots?? :confused:

Don

[UlTiMaTeP]

Tytus, if you dont clean that up, I will have to come over and fix it.

[Jaine Perotti]

I thought short circuits were bad for robots?? :confused:

DonHe means short wire lengths - i.e. less distance and wire in between terminals.

[Maximus123]

Make sure there's some breathing room, you dont any victors burning up, and ya, if you need to have it cleaned up, i'll drive all the way from Melbourne Florida to clean it. :D

[Graham Donaldson]

He means short wire lengths - i.e. less distance and wire in between terminals.

Don's trying to be funny (I think) (aka short circuit= BOOM!!!-:D). I like the idea, but shorter wires would definitely be a good idea. Other than that, me like!

[Matt Krass]

I have to say, it seems like a bad plan to me, there's no reason for that kind of wire length and closing the system up like that makes it difficult to work with the lower levels, as far as I can see anyways. Also, it just seems like asking for trouble to leave Victors cramped in like that, in that rats nest of wires, with little ventilation. Also I shudder to think what kind of electrical noise is being rained on the PWM cables you're going to have to install.

Honestly, and no offense, this doesn't seem all that impressive, or even all that compact, or modular given the high probability of tangles.


The reason why this design is worth sharing is because of it's compact design. The limited amount of space for electronics on the robot was a challenging design problem that Tytus needed to overcome. The object of this design wasn't to make the electronics very neat or pretty looking, or even accessible. The idea was just to save space. :)


It's not just a matter of looking bad, it's risky, and ineffective and could cause all kinds of problems later on, all of that traded off for what isn't really much of a space savings compared to most teams set ups (again, as far as I can tell) seems like a terrible idea.

I'm sorry if I seem rude, but I just don't think this is a very effective solution.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

It's not just a matter of looking bad, it's risky, and ineffective and could cause all kinds of problems later on, all of that traded off for what isn't really much of a space savings compared to most teams set ups (again, as far as I can tell) seems like a terrible idea.

I agree. I dont care how nice and expensive your parts are.. If you blow a Victor in finals, you're done.

[Tytus Gerrish]

see you guys on the field

[JamesBrown]

A couple of questions,
What are you using to attach it to the motors/solenoids/every thing else?

What are the dimensions?

Also if there is any concerns about over heating why not just put a muffin fan or two on it, other teams have done modular designs and have not had trouble with their victors.

[Lil' Lavery]

Most other modular designs have typically been easy to access the victors (or had spare ones built right in). 116 is currently building our 4th iteration of modular controls, and all of ours have been far easier to access the speed controllers and relays than this one appears to be. 1889's control system is easier to access the RC than ours is though, and appears to be more compact.
Also, how can you see the status lights on the victors? Or do you plan to troubleshoot any errors that occur without them?

[Tytus Gerrish]

Also, how can you see the status lights on the victors? Or do you plan to troubleshoot any errors that occur without them?

using the mirror on the top of my shoe

[Kris Verdeyen]

using the mirror on the top of my shoe

Don't sweat these haters, Tytus - Those Victors are bulletproof. Has anyone here actually burned up a correctly hooked up Victor without resorting to metal shavings?

But seriously, have you ever heard of zip ties? Also, the spaghetti store called, your tab is coming due. I KEED I KEED. And in conclusion, this:
http://photos4.flickr.com/4891442_f1526f4bb6.jpg
http://photos3.flickr.com/4891476_5d83144774.jpg

This was on our very sucessful 2005 bot, and was only really scary once, in Denver, when we had to troubleshoot it. On the field. This year's will be a little bit better.

[Matt Krass]

Don't sweat these haters, Tytus - Those Victors are bulletproof. Has anyone here actually burned up a correctly hooked up Victor without resorting to metal shavings?


Yes, I have. Twice. They do overheat, it matters. My post was not a slam, it was a fair and honest critique of the design. Victors are not bulletproof and I would never risk a $115 piece of equipment on "I've never seen this happen before".