Quote:
Originally Posted by Knufire
I really like the connectors on the US Digital S4/E4 series encoders. Browsing around on their website, it looks like it's a 1.25mm pitch Molex PicoBlade connector.
https://youtu.be/0bRyezC_P0M?t=141
The big thing I enjoy about them are the friction locks, they feel much more secure than standard 0.1 header connectors. I wouldn't mind a bigger pitch than 1.25mm though for FRC use though. |
Huh, I've always hated those. The attached wires were always a pain and usually messy, plus unplugging them didn't always go well.
We started using some custom .1in connectors this year for different sensors, like a 5-pin one for Grayhill encoders and some 2-pin ones. Those worked well when done correctly, but our quality control wasn't great, and a few connectors made it onto the robot that might have given us some intermittent signals. We're learning, though, and I think we'll go back to them and use more next year.
We also had some trouble with several Weidmuller connectors. No matter how many times we tried with different wires that were the correct gauge and stripped the correct length, a few connectors just wouldn't work. Others were perfect and lasted all season. We picked up some ferrules to try to address that next year.
The 3-pin connectors are decent. We wound up taping and zip-tying a lot together, though, so we might pick up some
VEX EDR connector clips. I'm a bit disappointed that the RoboRIO has male pins. We had one of those connectors come loose despite us using 3D printed cable management/spacing inserts. Other than a giant 10-connector female-to-female converter that plugs into all of them and reinforces everything, I don't really know how to address that.
I haven't personally used the XT or Deans connectors, but, given the option, I would stick with Powerpoles. They can clip together to make large plugs, they're easy to lock together, and we have tons of them stockpiled.