I have a question on connectons

[davidthefat]

Ok All I know is that the servers have a 3 pin connection, do all the other stuff like sensors (IR and Gyro) have a 3 pin connector? Or do I have to make the connectors my self?

[joek]

hmmmm... i believe that encoders use 2-pin connectors, but i dunno about the others

[Vikesrock]

Most sensors do not come with a 3 pin header attached, you will usually have to make this cable yourself by cutting up a standard PWM cable or by getting the appropriate connectors, crimper from a place like Hansen Hobbies (search here to find posts about what the exact parts are and potential suppliers).

[davidthefat]

Most sensors do not come with a 3 pin header attached, you will usually have to make this cable yourself by cutting up a standard PWM cable or by getting the appropriate connectors, crimper from a place like Hansen Hobbies (search here to find posts about what the exact parts are and potential suppliers).

Ok so would you say its better to just solder on the gyro chip to the main board or get a gyro daughter board?

[Vikesrock]

Ok so would you say its better to just solder on the gyro chip to the main board or get a gyro daughter board?

If you are referring to the KOP gyro, it is already on a board, you can cut off the male end of a PWM cable and solder the resulting wires to the appropriate pads on the board.

If you have a separate gyro, I have not worked with these before, but I would guess that you probably want some filter circuity like what is provided by the KOP gyro board. A daughter board may provide this circuitry in a convenient package.

Others may be able to help more.

[mikets]

Depends on what kind of signals the sensor is sending. If the sensor is sending analog signals (i.e. voltage variations), then could be 2 or 3 pins (depending on if it needs power from the 5V pin). The gyro supplied by FIRST is such an analog device and it needs power from the 5V pin, so it has a 3-pin connector to an analog channel (5V, sig, Gnd). If the sensor is a switch, then it only needs 2 pins from the Digital input channel (sig and Gnd). The accelerometer, however, is a more complex device. Since it has 3-axes, it could use 3 analog channels but the one supplied by FIRST is using I2C interface which is a 4-pin serial interface communicating with the I2C protocol. Some versions of encoders use 2 digital input chanels so they have two 3-pin connectors on the cRIO end and a 4-pin connector on the encoder end. If you connect the encoder to the Jaguar then it is a 4 or 5 pin connector. So yes, we make connectors depending on what the sensor needs. For the gyro, we solder 3 header pins onto the gyro board so that we can disconnect it easily on either ends.

[davidthefat]

Depends on what kind of signals the sensor is sending. If the sensor is sending analog signals (i.e. voltage variations), then could be 2 or 3 pins (depending on if it needs power from the 5V pin). The gyro supplied by FIRST is such an analog device and it needs power from the 5V pin, so it has a 3-pin connector to an analog channel (5V, sig, Gnd). If the sensor is a switch, then it only needs 2 pins from the Digital input channel (sig and Gnd). The accelerometer, however, is a more complex device. Since it has 3-axes, it could use 3 analog channels but the one supplied by FIRST is using I2C interface which is a 4-pin serial interface communicating with the I2C protocol. Some versions of encoders use 2 digital input chanels so they have two 3-pin connectors on the cRIO end and a 4-pin connector on the encoder end. If you connect the encoder to the Jaguar then it is a 4 or 5 pin connector. So yes, we make connectors depending on what the sensor needs.

http://www.robotshop.com/SFE-Single-Axis-MEMS-Gyroscope-300s-LISY300AL.html

or

http://www.robotshop.com/sfe-single-axis-300s-gyro-breakout-board-lisy300al.html


LOL Sorry I am a total noob at this, Im a prgrammer, never really had to do this stuff, can't find anything online.

[mikets]

http://www.robotshop.com/SFE-Single-Axis-MEMS-Gyroscope-300s-LISY300AL.html

or

http://www.robotshop.com/sfe-single-axis-300s-gyro-breakout-board-lisy300al.html


LOL Sorry I am a total noob at this, Im a prgrammer, never really had to do this stuff, can't find anything online.
I don't recommend getting any of these gyros. The first one is a chip. You need supporting circuitry to use it. The second one seems to use 3.3V power which is not normally supplied by the Power Distribution Board unless you do your own voltage reduction. I would recommend getting the FIRST recommended ones if you are not familiar with using these.
BTW, I am a programmer too :)

[Vikesrock]

http://www.robotshop.com/SFE-Single-Axis-MEMS-Gyroscope-300s-LISY300AL.html

or

http://www.robotshop.com/sfe-single-axis-300s-gyro-breakout-board-lisy300al.html


LOL Sorry I am a total noob at this, Im a prgrammer, never really had to do this stuff, can't find anything online.

Definitely the breakout board. You don't want to mess with trying to solder that chip. The breakout will be much easier to solder to and has the bonus of a built in low pass filter.

However. FRC analog and digital breakouts have 5V power outputs and that chip runs on 3.3V.

I just glanced through the various boards on that site and this one may meet your needs better if you are using FRC components:
http://www.robotshop.com/sfe-gyro-breakout-board-idg500-dual-500-degree-sec-1.html

The board I linked has integrated low pass filters as well as an integrated voltage regulator which allows you to feed it 5V straight from an FRC analog breakout board. It also has an extra axis, just in case you decide it's useful. The one thing to note is that it sense rotation in X and Y so I believe it needs to mount in a different orientation than the KOP gyro (perpendicular to) to sense yaw.

[The Lucas]

I just glanced through the various boards on that site and this one may meet your needs better if you are using FRC components:
http://www.robotshop.com/sfe-gyro-breakout-board-idg500-dual-500-degree-sec-1.html


I looked at the site too and this one is most like the KOP Gyro (although it is 300 deg/s as opposed to 250 deg/s KOP)
http://www.robotshop.com/sfe-gyro-breakout-board-adxrs610-300-sec-1.html

Note that the wires for 5V (red) and gnd (black) need to be swapped on a standard PWM cable

My team makes our own out of Analog Devices Evaluation Board Gyros, but we have been doing that for many years (started when the KOP gyros were not very good), and I wouldn't recommend starting that practice now. I recommend the KOP gyro (which are good Analog Devices chips now). It is easy to wire, already works with the Gyro Class (sensitivity is set) and you get a new one in the KOP every year :) .