Electronics Board Construction/Design

[zdeswarte]

I remember seeing a picture of this one team's robot in either november or december; its wiring organization was phenominal. However, I can't find that picture for the life of me, I've been looking for an hour and a half already. If someone remembers any specifics about that picture, like team name or caption description so I can find it again I would really appreciate it.

[Cory]

I think you're referring to this picture.

Please see this thread and search before you post.

[Denny527]

I'm new at this and I'm wondering:
how do u put everything on ur robot?
Do u use a wood board, a plastic board, or acylic board or whatever?
Also is it a good idea to have everything in one place??
or should we have things apart from each other??

[tkwetzel]

This thread shows a really nice electronics layout. Different teams use many different ways to mount the electronics. I think most people would agree that most teams mount all or at least most of the electrical components together. Having it all together can help make the wiring neat and help when you need to fix something. It also helps in the fact that you can run shorter wires.

[Ted Boucher]

Any kind of board will work, but the electronics board is a good area to use as little weight as possible on the robot. We have used lexan and wood boards in the past and they have worked fine. Wood boards are easy to trim down and to make fast changes, so we prefer them.

As for placement of your electronics: you can have everything in one place, this helps with troubleshooting at competitions and it looks nice and neat; or you can place certain electronics in different locations that are concealed in your robot, like the spikes and the speed controllers. But electronics like the main circuit breaker and your robot controller, need to be put in a special spot that is easy to get to. Both strategies work fine and are efficient for a robot at a competition.

You should use as little wire as possible, but don’t pull your cables to tight. If you pull them excessively tight, you run the risk of a robot hitting you hard and a wire getting pulled out due to stress. All sensitive equipment needs to be protected with some sort of a shield. Don’t run the risk of allowing a way to damage the robot controller or any other vital electronics device; it will ruin your day.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

For several years now we have used a punched aluminum sheet available from McMaster. I believe the holes are 1/4". It is light and allows us to tywrap everything in place in case we need to rapidly replace a component. It also allows for tywrapping all the wiring down. It may not be pretty but it gets the job done and allows for cooling air to move through the robot.

[Greg McCoy]

The TechnoKats use thin (1/8" - 1/16") Lexan because it's non-conductive, easy to cut/drill, and clear, which can be very convenient when you are trying to see something in your robot from below. We usually tie-wrap everything because it's easier to remove and replace components than it is with nuts and bolts. I'd also recommend making your wire runs as short as possible (especially the high-current ones, such as the battery and drive motors) to minimize voltage drop and get the most out of your battery. Covering the Victors is a good idea too, as metal flakes from drilling/cutting on your robot can get in them and release the magic smoke.

[Denny527]

Hey thanks for the ideas and pictures guys

[Hershey]

OK...I don't think it's the material that u make the board with. I think the biggest problem is the highly recomended 'quick release' mechanizm. Last year, my team had our board hooked on the bot with nuts and bolts. What made it worse was that we forgot the wrench that fit the nuts. As for the material, we went with lexan last year. For testing, we use a non-permanent wood board that will be placed on a more stable material when we want to make the design final. The over all advice, DON'T USE NUTS AND BOLTS FOR YOUR BOARD!

[Justin_302]

Originally Posted by Denny527

I'm new at this and I'm wondering:
how do u put everything on ur robot?
Do u use a wood board, a plastic board, or acylic board or whatever?
Also is it a good idea to have everything in one place??
or should we have things apart from each other??

i wouldnt make it out of acylic because it is too easy to break. The best thing to do is make it out of 1/8 in polycarb. You also want to keep your components all on one board if possible.

[Josh Hambright]

Originally Posted by Justin_302

i wouldnt make it out of acylic because it is too easy to break. The best thing to do is make it out of 1/8 in polycarb. You also want to keep your components all on one board if possible.

Although i agree that polycarb is way better for robotics applications then acrylic (easier to drill, stronger, wont break anywhere as easily as acrylic) i disagree about keeping the electrics together on one board.

Although it is a good practice to keep leads for battery and leads going to the motors as short as possible, it is not nessacary to keep everything together in one area, many teams choose to spread things out and this works for them, alot of it is personal preferance and/or working with what space and options you have available.