Quote:
Originally Posted by sanddrag
I'm hoping to try a new approach to electronics this year. Usually, our wiring process takes about a week, since we do it very neatly. Also, we usually wait until the frame is all machined, welded, and back from powder coat. This time, I'm going to try to work with the students to start on the electronics layout on Day 1, and mount it all to a sub-plate, that the rest of the design will have to accommodate later. That way, we can start wiring right away, and have it all ready to go whenever the robot is mechanically done. At least we can wire everything from main breaker to motor controllers and everything in between. Frame comes back from powder coat, assemble mechanical things, plop the electronics plate in, plug in motors and encoders, and you're up and running. I think it would get us running about a day after powder coat instead of a week after powder coat.
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After our disastrous "fit the electronics into a really cramped space" experience our second year, we tried doing the electronics first, but we wound up having to change it anyway as an alternative to even more invasive mechanical issues. Some years, the space available is roughly square, others it is longer and thinner. Last year it wound up being two different areas, so we did electronics in one and pneumatics in the other; this was much easier with the PCM than it would have been with the cRIO pneumatics module.
I would recommend doing the electronics layout more in parallel with the chassis, rather than have it drive the robot design. That is, once the basic requirements are known (e.g. six motor controllers, four solenoids, and a raspberry pi vision processor), do a quick layout to determine how
much space you need (don't forget battery and main breaker), and make sure that it's included in the chassis design. Then, after the chassis is drawn out, do the detail design and build the control board while the frame is being machined, welded, and powder coated. You should still be ready to install and plug in by the time the mechanical systems are assembled.
Edit: If you do this, make sure to coordinate between your board wiring sub-team and your chassis wiring sub-team as to where (and what type) your connectors will be. It's no fun to come up a few inches short, or a foot too long. Even if it's the same two people, it's better to decide before you start terminating wires.