Electrical Quick release after motor controller?

[nathan_hui]

CHS Robotics used (pretty sure we still are) the Molex .093" series wire to wire connectors for interconnects between the PDB and the Motor Controller, and the Motor Controller and the Motor. These were only for the lower amperage circuits (20 amp max on a connect specc'd for 15 amps). We used a set of Anderson PowerPoles with a 30 amp rating for the 40 amp circuits (but we had some problems with failure of the solder joints. Possibly consider getting the actual crimper for the 45 amp contacts, or switching to a different connector, possibly a Molex).

At university, we use the XT90/60 and Deans T-connectors for high amperage circuits (75+ amps). The nice thing about these connectors is that they are actually fairly small, do not tend to come out easily, and very robust. Bad thing is they can't be panel mounted. Also, the Deans connectors are not the safest of connectors (unshrouded male pins).

One thing you should do is design your system to be modular and, well, idiot-proof. If you package your entire control system (cRIO, breakouts/headers, and PDB) and place modular interconnects between everything (use wire-to-wire connects for power, and 0.1" headers to DB9/15/25), you have made a system very open to prototyping (just plug and play, quite literally), and setting up your system for competition is fairly simple. If you standardize your connectors to the type of circuit, i.e. a particular connector for 20A circuits, a particular connector for 10A circuits, a particular connector for 40A circuits, and a particular connector for 5V circuits (this one is key!!!), and you do this between the controller and power, then essentially an idiot (i.e. a rookie) could wire up your robot for you.