Power Board Placement
 

Hello, we have a question pertraining to rules on the mounting of the Power Distribution Board. On the 2012 FRC Inspection Checklist, it states the following:
We were thinking of mounting the PD board inside a cage with the rest of our electrical components, ( see and ) will this rule change anything? Or will we have to mount it outside the box?

Re: Power Board Placement
 

Visibility means to be easily seen. Inside the cage should be fine, however make sure your breaker is OUTSIDE the cage, because that is the part that needs to be easily accessible.

Re: Power Board Placement
 

That box looks (from just two pictures) to be a large waste of space--not to mention unnecessarily heavy--unless your design calls for it to be very exposed and unprotected.

Re: Power Board Placement
 

Thanks, the breaker was going to be outside anyways. We were also considering putting a plexiglass cover on as opposed to the current metal one (Our jaguars and spikes are mounted to the the top of the box, though) to help visibility.

Re: Power Board Placement
 

Hm, if anything I'd make the the jaguars are inside the box. You dont want anything to get in them or such because they do have a tendency to be unreliable. That is, if you're still going to keep the box.

I have lexan plastic over my victors, and while the robot was just in the shop the amount of metal sharps/anything else that got on it were shocking.

Whatever you end up doing with your electronics board, cage or not I'd highly suggest to keep the jaguars covered.

Re: Power Board Placement
 

The jags are mounted on the inside of that lid, facing the cRIO, digital sidecar and PD, so they are covered.

Re: Power Board Placement
 

Team,
The visibility requirement means exactly what it says. Everything must be visible for both inspection and diagnosing. As inspectors we need to see all wire terminations and breakers, all controllers, terminations for the Crio, wireless bridge and it's regulator, and all LEDs during the power ON tests. While this box is really nice, if you can't open it easily to satisfy the visibility rules you may not pass inspection. All of these critical items make it easier for us to help you diagnose problems.