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Unread 01-02-2014, 19:45
Matthew Lang Matthew Lang is offline
A.K.A. Langarang
FRC #0610 (The Coyotes)
Team Role: Alumni
 
Join Date: May 2013
Rookie Year: 2011
Location: Toronto
Posts: 22
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Re: 610 Electronics Board Teaser

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Originally Posted by inkling16 View Post
First off, this is an absolutely spectacular electronics board. If my team makes one that is 1/3 as good, I will be proud of them.
Thanks for the kind words

Quote:
Originally Posted by inkling16 View Post
1. Do your CIMs not get very hot because of the gearing and/or the load sharing over 3 motors? Or have you tested these motors under high loads for extended periods without seeing any problems with the contacting material.
We ran a similar system with our drivetrain last year (pig-tailing the motor leads on to the motors) and although the motors do get warm, we never ran into issues with melting the insulation or anything like that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by inkling16 View Post
2. What are those red connectors between the motors and their respective speed controllers? Also, why do you use them instead of cutting the motor wire to length and connecting it right onto the speed controller?
The red (and black) connectors are Anderson Power Poles. We find them to be better versions of quick disconnect crimps. In terms of swapping out a broken component, it means all we will ever have to do is change the motor or speed controller without re-doing any wires. It also means that we can cut all of our motor leads to the same length (off of the robot), and then make the appropriate length run (also off of the robot) with ordinary spool wire instead of worrying about affecting the CIMs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by inklinhg16 View Post
3. Where do you intend to place the remaining pneumatic components? Will there be space directly above the compressor for them?
They will go where the sideways large compressor appears in the picture, and where the furthest right vertical compressor appears.

Quote:
Originally Posted by inklinhg16 View Post
4. Why did you opt to use the old digital module to sidecar cable instead of the ribbon cable? Is it because of the placement of the sidecar and cRIO right next to each other?
It has a lot to do with the placement of the cRIO, and ribbon cables are a pain to make. Unless vertical space above the cRIO becomes an issue, we figured why not use something that was already assembled for us.

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Originally Posted by inklinhg16 View Post
5. Did you cut to length and crimp all of the PWM cables yourself?
Yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by inklinhg16 View Post
6. What is that thing at the top of the PD Board? And why does it have a PWM cable coming out of it?
It's a gyro sitting on top of a custom 3-D printed mount attached with double-sided tape.

Quote:
Originally Posted by inkling16 View Post
7. Why are your two non-drive speed controllers attached to 30 amp breakers instead of 40 amp breakers? Are you concerned about the total current draw of 8 40 amp motors?
We just figured that the application of those motors shouldn't draw more than 30 amps and that we could preserve the other 40 amp slots for spares/other applications.

Quote:
Originally Posted by inkling16 View Post
7. Will there eventually be a mechanism in the space of the 4 compressors? If so, did you design the board specifically to save this space? Or are you just so efficient in your wiring that you have 4 compressors worth of excess space just to show off?
As I mentioned we will be putting the rest of the pneumatic components there, and likely a few more Talons. We also knew that there would be a bit of a mechanism dropping down into the electronic board space so we tried to preserve as much as possible. As it turns out the mechanism will be centered against the frame opposite the battery.