[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by glennword

Okay, off topic, but r66 was mentioned so I hope this isn't too off base.
My team is currently in the middle of designing a swerve drive. Part of the design is a custom circuit board that would be mounted to each swerve module to reduce the amount of computing the ___RIO has to do, as well as improve modularity, wiring, and ease of replacement if a module were to fail. The board takes inputs from the SideCar (if using 2014 and older control system) or roboRIO itself over SPI. The circuit board then processes the inputs and turns them into PWM motor commands, which are sent to a Talon or other approved motor controller. Does this meet the requirements of R66? It could be interpreted as legal if one thought that the ___RIO was still providing the signals by proxy, or it could be viewed as an entirely separate entity, and therefore illegal. Another thought, with the integration of the various serial communication ports on the roboRIO, as well as the MXP boards, do you think that this rule could be omitted, reworded, or loosened in next years manual?
Thanks and sorry if this is off topic and/or confusing.

Such a board would be considered a "CUSTOM CIRCUIT", per 2014 rules. The specific rule you're looking for here is R71:

All outputs from CUSTOM CIRCUITS shall connect to only the following:

other CUSTOM CIRCUITS,
input ports on the Digital Sidecar,
input ports on the Analog Breakout Board,
the RS-232 port on the cRIO,
the Ethernet network connected to either Port 1 or Port 2 of the cRIO,
the CAN-bus if and only if all Jaguar motor controllers on the CAN-bus are wired in full compliance with R67and R68, or
the sensor inputs on the Jaguar motor controller.

There is no wiggle room in that rule - outputs from a custom circuit CAN NOT be connected to the PWM inputs on a speed controller.

I expect this particular rule might be changed a little bit for next year, in order to accommodate break-out boards attached to the MPX port on the RoboRio. Despite that, I doubt it will change enough to make your solution legal.