[Rookie] How to set up electrical the best way?

[Steven Sigley]

Zip ties do a good job of keeping masses of wiring neat, and can be easily cut away if needed.

Also labeling speed controllers and fuses helps. Especially with CAN when the jaguars have addresses.

Example of one of the boards i did that initially wasn't great, but zip ties made it much neater and easier to follow wires:

http://www.vandenrobotics.com/plogge...n/sn850239.JPG

[Ernst]

I'd recommend adding corresponding letter or number labels on the end of each wire, then a wiring list describing the gauge of each wire, it's source and destination, as well as its function. A wiring list takes a bit of time to set up, but is hugely beneficial for quick fixes. It eliminates the need to trace a wire through webs and nests that will almost certainly build up on your robot.

[slijin]

Originally Posted by Steven Sigley

Example of one of the boards i did that initially wasn't great, but zip ties made it much neater and easier to follow wires:

http://www.vandenrobotics.com/plogge...n/sn850239.JPG

Keep in mind that this board is missing a circuit breaker, which you must have (you seem to be referring to it as the "killswitch").

Other things that you may want to take a look at are spiral wrap and the plastic routing chain that comes in the igus bag. They're both handy ways of protecting long wire runs, and in the case of the latter, ensuring a constant direction of motion for said wire run as you actuate an appendage.

[Steven Sigley]

Originally Posted by slijin

Keep in mind that this board is missing a circuit breaker, which you must have (you seem to be referring to it as the "killswitch").

Thanks for mentioning that, i forgot ours was elsewhere on the robot that year.

You may someday decide to make your electronics removable like that panel, in which case certain crimps make it easier to remove and replace quickly like these anderson connectors. (also pictured in the left corner of the electronics panel i posted)
http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-po...owerpole-sets/

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Steven,
A very pretty wiring job! Congrats.

[mikets]

Here is our software development bot. It is in a smaller footprint than the competition robot so it is less intimating when testing software. We are trying Jaguars for the first time and we made a backbone CAN bus (not daisy chain so it won't have the problem of one Jag dies, all down stream jags will fail) using RJ-12 connectors. The bus is pretty much two twisted-pair wires punchdown to 4 RJ-12 connectors. Also notice the Anderson connectors for motor power and RJ-11 connectors for the encoders. So unplugging all motor power and encoder cables will allow us to separate the electronics from the frame cleanly.

[imjessica]

what is the white box on the right onthis picture? http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...6&d=1326270641

sorry im just gonna assume that was a silly question. haha thanks

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by imjessica

what is the white box on the right onthis picture? http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...6&d=1326270641

sorry im just gonna assume that was a silly question. haha thanks

Looks like a CAN device. If you're driving the Jaguars with PWM, you don't need to worry about it.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by imjessica

what is the white box on the right onthis picture? http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...6&d=1326270641

It appears to be a CAN hub of some sort. Instead of wiring from Jaguar to Jaguar as is expected, I think that robot has the CAN connections going from each Jaguar to a central, likely custom-built, box.

[mikets]

Yes, that's a CAN bus backbone. All Jaguars are running as a T-tap to the CAN bus backbone. So there is no issue of daisy chaining where one segment has problem and all down stream Jags are disabled. The box is just an RJ connector plate with 4 RJ-11 connectors. Two pairs of twisted wires form the backbone of the CAN bus. One power pair, one CAN-H CAN-L pair. The wire pairs are routed around each connectors with a punch-down tool. Very reliable. At the end of the CAN-H, CAN-L pair is a terminating 100-ohm resistor. The other end of the pairs is terminated to a RJ-11 male connector and plugged into the 2CAN.

[djdaugherty]

I have a question about the Anderson Connectors....Do you use 30 A connectors and 45 A connectors (depending on the breaker) or just stick with 45A connectors for everything? It looks like the size of the housing doesn't change.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by mikets

Yes, that's a CAN bus backbone. All Jaguars are running as a T-tap to the CAN bus backbone. So there is no issue of daisy chaining where one segment has problem and all down stream Jags are disabled. The box is just an RJ connector plate with 4 RJ-11 connectors. Two pairs of twisted wires form the backbone of the CAN bus. One power pair, one CAN-H CAN-L pair. The wire pairs are routed around each connectors with a punch-down tool. Very reliable. At the end of the CAN-H, CAN-L pair is a terminating 100-ohm resistor. The other end of the pairs is terminated to a RJ-11 male connector and plugged into the 2CAN.

Do you have pictures of the inside of the box, I'm not quite sure I have a clear picture of what's going on inside. This seems like a great way to eliminate one of the problems with CAN.

[mikets]

I am making a 12-port CAN backbone tonight. I will take some pictures to post.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

We use the 45 amp connectors exclusively.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by djdaugherty

I have a question about the Anderson Connectors....Do you use 30 A connectors and 45 A connectors (depending on the breaker) or just stick with 45A connectors for everything? It looks like the size of the housing doesn't change.

We use the size that is appropriate for the wire. You can have difficulty getting a good crimp if your wire is too small for the connector! You are correct, the housing size is the same, although you can get it in many different colors to help keep your robot organized!