I need information on electrical

[384 huband44]

Hey im a rookie on 384 this year
and im new to using an electrical board.
So, if anyone can help in the shortest amount of words then please do so.
Thank you

[ATannahill]

Your team should already be pretty strong, see if anyone already knows about electrical, maybe one of the mentors.

[gallo26]

Well to start off, electrical is not hard at all, its extremely simple. Even with the new control system coming out. To get a full outline on the FIRST rules and regulations of electrical i would encourage you to go to their site and check them out.

Other than that, There is really nothing tough about it. You have a battery that goes to a breaker panel. That breaker panel supplies power to EVERYTHING on the robot. From there you have components that run motors and compressors. Those recieve power. Some of the electrical diagrams on the FIRST website will really help you out.

If you do have any questions about the more in depth details of electrical your more then welcome to PM me or email or whatever you would like. Those rules and diagrams will help you though, So any questions ask me or post on this thread again. Everyone on Chief Delphi is extremely helpful. :)

[384 huband44]

Your team should already be pretty strong, see if anyone already knows about electrical, maybe one of the mentors.

My team isn't that strong this year because we only have 4 returners and a lot of new guys. And the returners have already told me their knowledge i was trying to get different views of the electrical wiring.

[Sam2197]

i agree electrical isnt that hard. its really all outlined for you though so maybe thats why. it really is just as simple as it seems. red positive;black negative. now programming is another beast

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Wayne,
In the coming months you will be seeing a lot of questions asked here and a lot of answers. Not all answers will be the correct ones but it will be easy to determine if you have patience and just wait to see a few posts before you charge off into the unknown.
The new control system is similar in function to the old system but different in the way it is put together. Please study the documents for the power distribution that are available now and read the Robot section of the new manual (available at kick off) when it appears. Above all, check every Team Update as they come out and watch for revisions to the manual. We achieved Rev G before the end of the season last year.
I will start saying this now so everyone has a chance to hear it early. Follow the manufacturer recommended termination procedure for the Power Distro Board. See attached doc.

[Speeder]

Go to the FIRST website and download the 2008 version of 'FIRST Guidelines, Tips, and Good Practices Rev B'. It will provide a bunch of information about building the electrical system and point you in the direction of many other useful documents.

So, if anyone can help in the shortest amount of words then please do so.

And don't be so impatient, a short answer will probably result in a short circuit!

[Jon Stratis]

Short answer: check out http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=10934

Slightly longer answer: FIRST pretty much tells you exactly what you need to do with electrical. They tell you what gets plugged in where, what needs to be protected with breakers (hint: everything!) and what size/type of breaker to use. They tell you what gauge wire to use for different parts. Follow the diagrams and instructions they have posted on the above page, and you should do just fine. Anything beyond that will require a pretty long and detailed response, probably more than you want to hear. There are different schools of thought with board layout, each with their pluses and minuses. There are tricks you can use to reduce the voltage drop over very long runs of wire. There are things you can do with custom circuits to make your life easier. I could go on.

There's one thing i would stress above all else with electrical: keep it neat and organized. If something stops working it's a lot easier to find the problem that way. Some teams have a huge mess of wires in their robot, and when something goes wrong it's difficult to find the connector that got pulled out.

[Led235]

just study some manuals, do some research on google. its pretty simple

[DonRotolo]

Short?

Read The Manual.

[Sparks333]

By and large, the only time when FIRST hasn't had massive amounts of documentation on everything they give you in the crate is when they (1) have a new exotic sensor that has some sort of barebones schematic/datasheet associated with it - usually more information will become available as the season goes on, and the forums will have tons of info within the first week, or (2) you are creating a custom sensor (ie: you're not just wiring up a module, or the module isn't FIRST-specific). Usually this is left to the more experienced members of the team, so ask them or observe them while they do it.

Good luck!

Sparks

[Sam N.]

I think FIRST does a pretty good job getting kids interested in electrical, but it takes internships and... well, college to get kids to actually learn about electricity.

I barely touched the robot electronics, it was an internship that made me want to become an electrical engineer.

In some respects I wish FIRST did a better job at teaching electronics - but this would mean making electronics more difficult, and this could hurt smaller rookie teams. Still, no real complaints here.

-Sam

[keen101]

Go to the FIRST website and download the 2008 version of 'FIRST Guidelines, Tips, and Good Practices Rev B'. It will provide a bunch of information about building the electrical system and point you in the direction of many other useful documents.

I second that. The Tips and good practices is very helpful. Not sure what is in the rev b version, but you should read it. http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FRC/FRC_Documents_and_Updates/2008_Assets/Manual/2008%20Tips%20and%20Guidelines%20RevB.pdf

Knowing the manual inside and out is always good too.

also normally I'd link to this, but since we get a new system this year well....
(http://www.ifirobotics.com/frc-robot-control-system-overview.shtml)
http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Packaging%20Cover%20Sheet%20v4.pdf

here are some other helpful links:

http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/2009%20Power%20distribution%20diargam.pdf


http://first.wpi.edu/FRC/frc-electrical.html
http://first.wpi.edu/Images/CMS/First/2008FRC_Electrical_Design_Skierkiewicz.ppt
http://first.wpi.edu/Workshops/index.html