Help please
 

Our team is new and I am new to all of this as well. I know virtually nothing about the electrical workings of a robot. I am working with the electrical team of our robot and we don't know much. I was hoping to learn what all parts we will need, what would be some useful tips on how to wire them up, and any other things you want to tell me. Assume I know nothing(that's about how much I know). Anyone who can help would be much appreciated. Thank you

Re: Help please
 

I would grab a lot of wire off andymark (the gauges you'll need are in the manual). You need heatshrink, electrical tape, a soldering iron, connectors, wire strippers, crimpers, a very small flathead screwdriver for the WACO connectors, a somewhat larger flathead screwdriver for the PD board, wire cutters. All that and a stress-relief ball :rolleyes:

When wiring anything to the PD board, be sure to read the manual to see what fuse to place on that device. And when wiring signal wires, be sure to communicate well with your programmers; they have settings that have to be right on the electrical side for your robot to perform correctly. Also, here's an awesome pdf on everything electrical on your robot.

Happy building!

Re: Help please
 

Some basic parts you will need:

Victors, Talons, and Jaguars: We use Victors for our drive train and Talons for all of the other motors.

cRIO: You should have gotten one of these in your Kit of Parts. You absolutely have to have this as it is the "brain" of the robot.

PD Board: Like a fusebox. Used to supply power to everything.

Battery: We use a motorcycle battery. You need this to supply power to everything.

Wires: Pretty self-explanatory.

There are more electronic parts that you could use, but these are the basics that you need.

Re: Help please
 

Soak yourself in the information on this site, very user friendly and well written guide/tutorial.

FRC 2014 control system:
http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/3120/m/8559

When you decide to use specific sensors community can help you.

Re: Help please
 

Welcome to FRC!

When our team was new we encountered similar issues to what you are experiencing. Therefore, the past year, one of our members (now Alumni) worked very hard on creating a video tutorial series explaining the FRC electronics system. We have a CD thread for it here:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=110324
(or the link in my sig)

Best of luck!

Re: Help please
 

Start by looking at the resources FIRST provides, located here:
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...control-system

First you'll see two wiring diagrams. These show you how to hook everything up for power and data - very important!

Next, there's a link to the benchtop testbed. As a rookie team, go through this and do everything exactly as it's listed! This will give you the confidence that you can actually get everything up and running before you start doing stuff like adding more motor controllers.

Once you've had some testing/experience with the system, come back on here and ask more questions!

Re: Help please
 

You can buy the wire locally at Home Depot or Lowes and save on shipping. Some Home Depots do not have the smaller gauges so you may have to check at Radio Shack or similar electronics store.

Shipping adds up over the season - I learned that my first year.

-matto-

P.S. Many of the small motors use a 3/16" wide female spade connector, not the standard 1/4" wide. I have seen a ton of rookie teams with motors that get disconnected because they did not have the correct smaller size. I have to go to Ace Hardware to find these typically.

Re: Help please
 

Also a little note. Don't remove the screws completely from the speed controllers as there has been an issue with bits of screw coming off the end and smoking the speed controllers. I know it was an issue with the Jaguars, though I can't remember specifically about the Victors. Use the fork style, not loop style crimp ends for speed controllers.

Re: Help please
 

Besides utilizing the great resouces mentioned above you can also contact your local Regional Directior/Senior Mentor/VISTA to see if they can connect you to either another team or a local professional that can help assist with electical issues and questions when you have them.

Re: Help please
 

Nice, I didn't think of that! Also, for the signal wire, our team uses old 28-gauge IDE ribbon cables for most small-wire applications.

Re: Help please
 

if you need help we can always sit down and skype and i can show you how to put the electronics together i am a mentor to team 2980 if you need help you can always email me at kylen2980@gmail.com

Re: Help please
 

Jags have a built in screw, and when you unscrew them completely you break the connection between the hardware and the screw, generally leaving behind some metal shavings. Victors are not connected to the screw, so you can completely remove the screw as you wish and not damage them. I'm unsure about Talons. Remove the screws of any of the three motor controllers of your free will. (Thank you Mr. Ross!)

This was only true of the very first year of jaguars with the tan color. It is not true for any black jaguar, victor, or Talon.

Re: Help please
 

Ah. Thanks for that info then!