Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

How would we get a replacement? I can't find one anywhere.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

Andymark sells the Power Distribution Boards, along with a bunch of other FIRST stuff.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

joachim,
Check with First. You may have been given a defective unit in your KOP. It happens...

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

Well, if you really can't find anything else that may be causing the problem, you could open up the PD board and see if it's the fuse. If it is, fix the problem, and go on testing your bot. Then, between ship day and competition, order a new PD board and replace the now "modified" one at competition.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

I would find it hard to believe that replacing a fuse... no matter how you do it... with another fuse of the same type... would be considered a modification... it would be a repair...not a modification...

Now, I am not sure if it would help but if that is all you did I can't see that as illegal...it might void the warranty on your PD (if there is one...) but illegal modification? I don't think so..

If you replace parts with like parts that would be a repair... no where in the robot rules does it say you cannot repair a piece of your KOP.

Remember though... repairs would need to be done with the same part (fuse, etc.)

Of course, the ability to make a repair would be dependent on your level of expertise. It would always be at your own risk so if a team doesn't really know what they are doing... (not saying you are that team..) best to not attempt it.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

@Bob Steele: Historically speaking, "repaired" control system components (ie. Victors that blew the FETs and subsequently had them replaced) have not been allowed on competition robots.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

We are not speaking historically...
I was referring to this year's rules applied with a modicum of common sense.

Blown Victors were rarely repaired with the same components that they came with. But show me the rule that disallows doing this...

Just show me the rule..

i find it difficult to tell a team to spend another $180 for a PD board if it could be fixed by putting in a replacement fuse.

If that is the case, can we replace the fuse on a blown SPIKE? I I know it is on the outside and would appear to be easily replaceable... but what real difference is this?

i always hated having to send my old IFI controller boards down to IFI to have a blade connector replaced if I wanted to use it again..(in competition) ...

respectfully
R

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

Bob,
<R55> The control system is designed to allow wireless control of the ROBOTS. The Driver Station
software, FirstTouch I/O module, cRIO-FRC, speed controllers, relay modules, radio, and
batteries shall not be tampered with, modified, or adjusted in any way (tampering includes
drilling, cutting, machining, gluing, rewiring, disassembling, etc.), with the following
exceptions:

The PD is considered to be part of the control system and therefore is included in this ruling.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

Thanks Al
I knew I could count on you...

Given your position... I will have to concede the point...

Given this interpretation... NOTHING can be changed on the robot that has anything to do with control...

I still find it hard to see that a repair is a modification...

but I will concede the issue to a greater power.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

While I do agree with you in principle (I feel the same way about repairing bricked Jaguars with JTAG) I can understand where FIRST is coming from. If you openly allow teams to crack open the PD board and replace a fuse, you run the risk of any number of catastrophes, if the teams replace the fuse with one that is too high a rating, or worse, short it with some solder (I've seen students try this, the modern version of the penny trick) you could have a dangerous situation at a competition where no one expects the integrated safety device to be ineffective. Anything that must be opened up in any non-trivial way (read: using tools) is automatically more cumbersome for inspectors to verify at a competition, and thus should not be allowed, in the interest of safety and finishing inspections in a reasonable time.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

http://www.andymark.com/ProductDetai...ctCode=am-0265

Unfortunately
Out of stock...

email me if you really need one...I have a spare.
If you don't mind replacing it later..

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

The 2011 version is still in stock. http://www.andymark.com/ProductDetai...ctCode=am-0865

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

Is there any functional difference? Just for my own curiosity I'm wondering, I was under the impression that it was the same thing but from a different manufacturer, but I have no evidence to support that.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

The 2009 version did not have the blown breaker detection circuit. The 2010 and 2011 versions do. I don't know of any other differences. I'm not sure whether the Andymark 265 is the 2009 or 2010 version.

Re: 24V Light on Power Distribution Board
 

Bob,
I think Matt has explained it pretty well but even I would like to be able to make repairs. It is what I do for a living. However, I have spent a great deal of my life fixing other people mistakes so I know how bad some of those fixes can be. I can tell you that the supposals Matt outlined only scratch the surface of what I have seen. The rule did not come from me but I do support it for these reasons.