The importance of clean wiring

[sanddrag]

I think having clean (un-jungle-like) wiring is very important. I have several reasons of my own, but I'd like to hear yours.

Please post why clean wiring is important. If you do not think clean wiring is important, this thread is not for you.

[Eldarion]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

I think having clean (un-jungle-like) wiring is very important. I have several reasons of my own, but I'd like to hear yours.

Please post why clean wiring is important. If you do not think clean wiring is important, this thread is not for you.

Not sure if it would / could be a problem in FIRST, but I am always concerned about inductive / capacitive "cross talk" in a rats nest.

Also, there are the ever-present dangers of shorting things out and hooking things up wrong when you can't trace the wiring.

[Gdeaver]

Wires hang loose spaghetti style are susceptible to mechanical stress. When something fails clean, neat, and labeled cabling makes the repair easier. Secured wiring is important with this years rotating devices.

[Richard Wallace]

Clean wiring is easier to inspect, easier to rework, and less susceptible to entanglement. It will make your robot more popular with inspectors, judges, and scouts.

[KenWittlief]

Labeling is most important. Imagine your RC gets impailed during a match.

How in the world will you swap in a new one, if you have to trace every wire back to see where it goes?

Labels at both ends of all wires (esp PWM cables) will save you!

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

....Imagine your RC gets impailed during a match. ...

...the... horror!

[KenWittlief]

one year our battery broke loose from its holder when the robot hit the railing at full speed

the RC tried to stop the battery forward motion, but it just wasnt up to the task !

[TonzOFun]

Clean wiring is also important to ease replacement of parts on your electronics board.

In 2004, our robot burnt out a speed controller and broke our breaker panel. Due to jumbled wiring, the breaker panel and speed controller are now hanging in mid-air, being supported only by the wires.

Clean wiring also helps during competition to replace broken or loose connections quickly between matches.

[Chriszuma]

There is something therapeutic about an electrical board that is carefully planned and neatly laid out. It just soothes the soul to be able to see where every wire goes. I think tangled wires cause bad karma.

[Alan Anderson]

Clean wiring and clear labeling makes it easier for the electrical team to show that a problem isn't their fault and dump it on the programming team.

(In self-defense, clean coding and built-in diagnostics can make it easier for the programming team to convince everyone that a problem is in the hardware.)

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Clean, orderly wiring always seems to work better. I don't know why it just does...
Now seriously, wiring needs to keep clear of moving parts, not block what might lie underneath, be clearly marked as to where it goes, and it should be placed so that a few well chosen ty-wraps will keep it in place when the robot falls off the ramp or run's into the field boundary.

[ForgottenSalad]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

Labeling is most important. Imagine your RC gets impailed during a match.

How in the world will you swap in a new one, if you have to trace every wire back to see where it goes?

Labels at both ends of all wires (esp PWM cables) will save you!

I will vouch on that one... Last year at atlanta we got our radio port on the RC knocked loose and had to change boards in less than 10 minutes... the only things we had labeled were four of the pwm cables. Everything else took a while to find what went where and then hooking it up.

[Cody Carey]

Clean wiring is important for self satisfaction... in the past nobody on our team was skilled enough to do a good job (all the seniors were gone and we had 10th grade captains AKA Andrew blair and myself). But now that we have learned a little more and are a little wiser... we can look at our electronics board and be happy, for it is good.

[pyrr101]

Last year the power distribution and speed controllers were mounted to one nice board and the wires were all set. Then two days before shop the panel was cut in half to make room for support for the arm. This meant remounting and re wiring the controls.

I had needed to leave for a few hours and when I had returned our team lead had tried to wire it (He is mechanical and basically new nothing about the electrical). The result was wires running everywhere and not enough time to rewire and make it look better.

I made it better this year:
http://www.geocities.com/pyrr101/Board_Layout.jpg

[want2modmygt]

yeah. a clean bored is important for ease of working on it and it makes the whole robot more popular with judges, but i like it for the self satesfaction since I do our teams wiring. THis year, since I'm a senior, I've been trying to bring a freshie up to meet the challenge next year. but i definately love trying to make a really cool, functional, and neat little package. the challenge is trying to make it look awesome in as a small area as possible