Electrical wiring

[TERTOLA]

Hey everyone! This is rookie team 2513, Edison High School, Minneapolis, MN. We have a great team and a few mentors, but we are in need of help!

We need help wiring the power and electrical systems. i.e. we have a battery, wire, terminal connectors, fuses, busses, and all the other stuff included in the KOP!

So if anyone has wiring schematics, or ideas that can get us started or help us power everything and wire it efficiently.

Thanks!

Team TERTOLA!
#2513

[Eugene Fang]

Hey everyone! This is rookie team 2513, Edison High School, Minneapolis, MN. We have a great team and a few mentors, but we are in need of help!

We need help wiring the power and electrical systems. i.e. we have a battery, wire, terminal connectors, fuses, busses, and all the other stuff included in the KOP!

So if anyone has wiring schematics, or ideas that can get us started or help us power everything and wire it efficiently.

Thanks!

Team TERTOLA!
#2513


The power distribution diagram can be found here:

http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FRC/FRC_Documents_and_Updates/2008_Assets/Manual/2008_Robot_Power_Distribution_Diagram.pdf

[jee7s]

FIRST gives you a wiring schematic as part of the manual (or at least on the manual page).

A few tips:

1. Solder everything, don't trust crimping.

2. Heat shrink everything, don't trust electrical tape.

3. Remember current ratings. Odds are you need 4-6ga for distribution to and from the battery, 8-10ga for the high current motors (i.e. CIM motors), and 12-14ga for lower current motors. All these are available at Home Depot-style stores.

4. Consider shielding your sensor wiring.

5. Consider connecting your speed controller fans together, so they run regardless of whether or not you trip a breaker.

6. Don't forget a charging circuit for the RC backup battery.

Just a few thoughts, I'm sure more will come through.

-JEE

EDIT: Regarding my comment about speed controller motor fans...run them on a separate properly fused circuit to keep them running even if you trip a motor breaker. Previous convention has the motor fans attached to the inputs to the speed contollers, which will go dead if your motor pops the breaker. This means heat will not be evacuated during the tripped period.

[MrForbes]

also see the documents available in Section 8

http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=452

besides the schematic and the suggestions above, and the rules for building the robot, you should read the Guidelines, Tips, and Good Practices manual, it really helps you understand how to do the wiring.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Tertola,
If you have any specific questions after you check the Tips and Guidelines and the robot power distribution drawing both available on the First website then let us know here. You can also PM me if you wish. I will be your inspector in MN and you can ask me anything when I am there as well.


Jees,
I like your suggestions, we solder and heat shrink everything as well. There's a long story behind that but I'll save that for another day. Recommended practice is to wire the controller fans directly to the power input of each controller. It gives you an immediate indication that the controller is receiving power. They do not need to run if the contoller is not powered. Under the electrical rules, this requires an additional breaker to run all the fans from the power block and it leaves that little wire all over your robot. Since the breakers are self resetting, there is no worry if the motor breaker trips.
Even though many teams build and use the backup battery charger, there is no substitute for a fully charged backup using a standard wall powered charger. My recommendation is to save some weight and wear and tear on the main battery and buy a few backup batteries. Didgikey will make up larger capacity packs in record time or you can buy additional packs from IFI.

[Jeff Pahl]

Tertola,
If you have any specific questions after you check the Tips and Guidelines and the robot power distribution drawing both available on the First website then let us know here. You can also PM me if you wish. I will be your inspector in MN and you can ask me anything when I am there as well.


You can also PM me, I'm a little closer than Al is and if you get really stuck I can try and make a trip to help you out or get you in contact with someone who can. I'll be one of the inspectors assisting Al at the regional.