pic: 701 Electronics Board

[Doug G]

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[Alekat]

Yeah, the fact that we have eight speed controllers this year is a bit disheartening. But we figure we wont be running them all most of the time, and mostly at free speed, so our battery will hold up okay.

[sanddrag]

Probably 9 speed controls and 2 or 3 relays for us.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Guys, it's real pretty and well laid out. You do need to follow the wire color code in the manual to pass inspection though. Red or white for wiring that comes from the positive terminal of the battery or breakers. It's hard to tell from the picture.

[greencactus3]

good idea! going "under the floor" nice.

[Chuck Glick]

Originally Posted by Alekat

Yeah, the fact that we have eight speed controllers this year is a bit disheartening. But we figure we wont be running them all most of the time, and mostly at free speed, so our battery will hold up okay.

What the heck are you guys running that requires 8 speed controlers?!?... I gotta see this bot when finished... I mean we're only using 5 victors...

[DemonYawgmoth]

Team 1396 is using 6 for something, and a couple of spikes. I dont know what they do, but they're all labeled so I'm assuming that I could just read the labels to find out what they connect to.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by SirCharles982

What the heck are you guys running that requires 8 speed controlers?!?... I gotta see this bot when finished... I mean we're only using 5 victors...

How about 10 Motors?
4x Drive (CIM)
2x Shoot (Super-CIM)
2x Intake/Conveyor (FP)
1x Pan (Globe)
1x Tilt (Globe)

How about More?
6x Drive (CIM + FP)
2x Shoot (Super-CIM)
2x Intake/Conveyor (Globe)
1x Pan (Van Door)
1x Tilt (Window)

I don't think 8 motors will be uncommon. I think we'll see a lot of robots with a loooooot of actuation this year. I can't wait.

[Chriszuma]

Yeah, I really like the two layer wiring scheme, that's probably what I'm going to do this year. Last year everything was on the top of the board, it was an absolute jungle. That just looks really clean. Nice job.

[Rombus]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Guys, it's real pretty and well laid out. You do need to follow the wire color code in the manual to pass inspection though. Red or white for wiring that comes from the positive terminal of the battery or breakers. It's hard to tell from the picture.

Colors seem fine, look at the braker panel

Looks great to me, good job!

[pyrr101]

Since I'm head of the electrical component of my teams robot, I came to a tally of 5 Victors and about 6 spikes this year.

I am really concerned that we have a cim running the whole match plus 2 more for drive train. Then the compressor kicking in after using the pneumatic action for the gun.

Anybody know about how much battery power we will have left when we usually go into a match with 13.6v?

Thanks

[Donut]

Originally Posted by pyrr101

Since I'm head of the electrical component of my teams robot, I came to a tally of 5 Victors and about 6 spikes this year.

I am really concerned that we have a cim running the whole match plus 2 more for drive train. Then the compressor kicking in after using the pneumatic action for the gun.

Anybody know about how much battery power we will have left when we usually go into a match with 13.6v?

Thanks

Here's a tip on the constantly running CIM; turn it off. We are allowing our shooter speed to be controlled by both the camera and buttons manually controlled by the 2nd driver (we are adjusting speed, not angle, to change distance). When in manual mode, we will allow our operator to turn the desired speed down to 0 m/s, this way we can turn the motor off during defense (because you'll be spinning a motor for 40s pointlessly if it's left on since you can't score), and possibly when they're collecting balls and KNOW they won't be shooting. You just have to make sure you're drivers are smart enough to turn the motor on a few seconds before they need to shoot so it can get back up to speed.

As for the normal drive CIMs and pneumatics, don't worry much; every robot has those pretty much every year, as long as you replace batteries between matches you're fine.

Our tally this year comes to 7 victors and 3 spike relays. These are for...

Victors
4x Drive (CIMs)
1x Shooter (Big CIM)
1x Rotator (Window/Van Door)
1x Conveyor Belt (Fisher Price)

Relays
1x Compressor
1x Dumper for Corner Goals
1x Stopper for Shooter

I must say that is a nice electrical layout. I know we will be using 2 different levels for electronics because we don't have enough open space to have everything on one level.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by pyrr101

Since I'm head of the electrical component of my teams robot, I came to a tally of 5 Victors and about 6 spikes this year.

I am really concerned that we have a cim running the whole match plus 2 more for drive train. Then the compressor kicking in after using the pneumatic action for the gun.

Anybody know about how much battery power we will have left when we usually go into a match with 13.6v?

Thanks

Pyrr,
The shooter motor doesn't draw that much current since most of the time there is very little load. Spikes draw a little current only when switching and I am guessing they are feeding pneumatic valves, which are also low in current consumption. So that leaves the drive train. The most current will be used in turning if you are using tank style driving especially with four or more wheels. So it is very hard to predict how much current will be used in any given match. Although you may start the match with a battery that reads 13.6 volts, it will very quickly return to a nominal 12 volts. If you watch the voltage monitor on the OI during a match you will see that it repeatedly falls to less than 10 and perhaps as low as 4 volts depending on the action of the robot. But when activity ceases the voltage returns to near normal.
If you are worried about current, you can try reducing the friction in turns or limit how much the rest of the robot is working during a turn. (i.e. don't allow the ball shooter to move while turning or limit the compressor from turning on while turning.) The best way to predict how your robot will act during a match is to practice and watch the battery. If you can practice for ten minutes before the battery runs down then you should be fine for a 2:10 match. If you are slowing down before 2 minutes of practice, you better find out where all the current is going and make some changes.

[want2modmygt]

I think you'll be okay for those of you fretting about 8 victors... we have 12. i like the idea for the board though. to go around the circuit breaker panel and the RC. mines a bit different. ill get some pictures hopefully tonight and post them.

[lukevanoort]

Originally Posted by want2modmygt

I think you'll be okay for those of you fretting about 8 victors... we have 12. i like the idea for the board though. to go around the circuit breaker panel and the RC. mines a bit different. ill get some pictures hopefully tonight and post them.

Twelve Victors?!?!?!?!? I hope you're either joking or installing bumpers, 'cause that is a very expensive electrical board. We're only using six, plus a pair of Spikes.