Mounting Electronics

[wwrobotics1452]

I don't know if this is the right section to post in but anyway...
I was wondering if there are any restrictions on how to mount electronics on a conductive surface i.e can we mount the electronics using a rubber insulator or shim instead of plexiglass?
Any advice is appreciated.

[Tom Line]

It can be done if you are very careful. However, I can't think of anything worse than having to completely rewire a bot because you:

1. Have a short somewhere and have ALL your electronics mounted to conductive surfaces.

2. Have wires run inside of tubing and find a voltage in your chassis.

We found this in 2007 on a bot of ours, and we never have tracked down where the 5V+ was coming from. Plus, that Crio is mighty expensive.

I can give you a laundry list of why a non-conductive backplane is a good idea..... I don't have nearly as many reasons why I'd ever want a conductive backplane.

[samir13k]

its strongly reccomended that you mount them on an insulated surface such as plexi, but if you cant, you should still find some source of insulation... Especially for the cRio and the camera... i also reccomend using plastic hardware when bolting down your cRio...

and i cant believe i'm saying this,
but if it really came down to it,

You could even mount it on the metal with posterboard between the electronics and metal... (using platic hardware still)
dont hold me to that one though, there may be rules regarding it. I dont think there are though.

But a under $30 sheet of thin plexi is a wise insurance protection on a 750 dollar cRio!!!

[Jon Stratis]

Every year we've mounted ours on a piece of plywood. Simple, cheap, effective. This year we're using some ESD-safe plastic-like material (not really sure what it is, to be honest, but it is ESD safe), because we could pick it up for free from one of our sponsors. Then for most runs on the robot itself, we use some slotted plastic wire duct (http://www.mcmaster.com/#wire-duct/=5j2cg7). Of course, if you have wires that run onto moving parts, you have to make allowances... but using this stuff we can ensure that shorting to the frame is only going to happen under exceedingly exceptional circumstances.