lighted switches not allowed
 

I read some where it is not allowed to have lighted switches on the custom control box. Is this true?

Re: lighted switches not allowed
 

Read Section 5.3.8 (Manual page 18), also known as Operator Interface rules. Nothing there about not having lighted switches, however you need to power the lights from a Joystick port (<R78>).

Re: lighted switches not allowed
 

that wouldn't fry the OI? and do u know the pinouts of the joystick port?

Re: lighted switches not allowed
 

There have been rules in the past about not using lighted switches, but not this year. FIRST left it up to your team's good engineering judgment as to whether lighted switches will draw too much current.

The pinout and other important information about the joysticks is available from Innovation FIRST in the OI reference guide, available here: http://www.ifirobotics.com/oi.shtml

Re: lighted switches not allowed
 

"LED Drivers (see pinouts on pages 7-10)
PORT 1 and PORT 3 each provide four LED output drivers. These LED drivers allow the connection of
external LEDs that duplicate the function of the top eight Robot Feedback LEDs on the Operator
Interface. The LED drivers provide 5V that is current limited to 10mA. Connect the LED’s anode to
the desired LED drive pin. Connect the LED’s cathode to any ground pins."

This is from the 2005 OI manual.
From what I understand, the LED driver output pins 5,8,9,15 will power an LED, but I'm not sure about a lighted switch. The pin 1 +5v is for the joystick pots and other analog input devices. It only provides 100mA. I believe it's legal to use lighted switches, but you need an external power source. Would someone else please chime in because we want to do some feedback on the control board and the OI doesn't put out enough power for LEDs and switches, as shown below.

"[2] LED drivers provide 5V at 10mA
[3] +5V Aux is to be used for potentiometers in Joysticks and custom I/O boxes.
[4] Do not use +5V Aux for lamps or LEDs.
[5] The current limit of the +5V Aux from all 4 ports is about 100mA. The Aux Fault
illumination when the current draw from the +5V Aux Outputs total about 120
Aux voltage will have dropped to about 4.5 volts. Worse case, short condition:
seconds, the voltage will be at about 300 mV with a current of about 250 mA."

Re: lighted switches not allowed
 

If it's legal to use lighted switches, but you have to run them off an external power source, it's illegal.
(Emphasis mine)
So, if you follow the method chrisinmd proposes, you won't be allowed to use a lighted switch.

Re: lighted switches not allowed
 

While they may or may not work on the joystick ports, they do work on the competition port. Yes, we have lighted disable/auto switches.

Re: lighted switches not allowed
 

Why not just use a switch that is easy to see the position of and has good labels on the board?

Re: lighted switches not allowed
 

or a double switch (one switch two connections). One connection turns on the lights which is powered by a external power source.