A question about the robot's light

[May_Walter]

Hi everyone,
We looked over the manual, but it does not specify the rules about the light we got in the kit. We don't know exactly how and where we need to connect it. What are the specific rules about it?
Thanks a lot,
team Artemis
#3083

[J_Beth]

You should take a look at the power distribution diagram, it helped us wire ours. We took a PWM and cut off the side with the male connector, and striped those ends and wired like the diagram showed us.


EDIT:
Here is a link to the diagram.

http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles...ution_RevA.pdf


You will need to cut a piece of extra PWM (we used a piece of white because that's not used here) to make the jump from the positive wire to the slot on the far side. I wish that i had the light here so that i could see the labels and tell you what goes where but alas, i don't have one. The best way for me to discribe it would be that you put your negative PWM (black) in the center of the light, and the positive(red 0 goes on one of the outsides, with a small wire running from that slot to the slot on the other side.


Hope this helps, if someone that has access to a light could post what the labels are that would probably help a lot.

[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by May_Walter

Hi everyone,
We looked over the manual, but it does not specify the rules about the light we got in the kit. We don't know exactly how and where we need to connect it. What are the specific rules about it?
Thanks a lot,
team Artemis
#3083

May,

<R59> is the rule that applies to the light. Also, as noted by Justin above, the Power Distribution Diagram is a good read...

Regards,

Mike

[May_Walter]

Hi again,
Thanks for the information, but we would like to know if we can place the light inside the robot, in such a way that the light is visible from the front of the robot through a hole in the semi-transparent cover. The light is going to be inside of the cover and won't stick out of it.
Thanks again,
team Artemis
#3083

[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by May_Walter

Hi again,
Thanks for the information, but we would like to know if we can place the light inside the robot, in such a way that the light is visible from the front of the robot through a hole in the semi-transparent cover. The light is going to be inside of the cover and won't stick out of it.
Thanks again,
team Artemis
#3083

May,

From <R59>:

It must be mounted on the ROBOT such that it is easily visible while standing three feet in front of the ROBOT in the NORMAL CONFIGURATION.

Mike

[May_Walter]

We plan that it will be visible from the front as the rule say, but we want to make sure that it is ok that the light will be completely inside the cover and visible through a hole in the front.
thanks again,
team artemis
#3083

[Al Skierkiewicz]

May,
Field personnel will have a hard time trying to search for your RSL through a hole in the front. You should think about an alternative mount. Under certain conditions it flashed a different code than the flashing or ON that you expect to see. That flashing code tells the field people what the status of your robot is and whether it is ready to play.

[May_Walter]

Well, the cover of the robot is made out of blue semi-transparent plastic:

http://www.shaham1.co.il/var/7376/23...D7%9C%2011.jpg

and we expect the light to be visible through it as well.
Is that legal? Because we don't have a lot of options where we can place it.
Any ideas?

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by May_Walter

Well, the cover of the robot is made out of blue semi-transparent plastic:

http://www.shaham1.co.il/var/7376/23...D7%9C%2011.jpg

and we expect the light to be visible through it as well.
Is that legal? Because we don't have a lot of options where we can place it.
Any ideas?

May,

The referees on the field are going to do everything they can to make sure that your robot will run during the match. One of the best indicators they have is the RSL.

Therefore, it is in your best interest to make it as visible as possible to the referees on the field. I do not know how opaque that material is to yellow light. As such I cannot answer if it is legal to use, and if it is legal then how useful it would be. If a referee does not see that your robot isn't ready then, more than likely, your robot will not run ... just something to consider.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by J_Beth

We took a PWM and cut off the side with the male connector, and striped those ends and wired like the diagram showed us.

The RSL connector on the Digital Sidecar has only two pins. A PWM connector has three. You should have received a handful of two-wire cables with exactly the connector needed in the Kit of Parts. See the top of page 12 in the Kit of Parts Checklist.

[J_Beth]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

The RSL connector on the Digital Sidecar has only two pins. A PWM connector has three. You should have received a handful of two-wire cables with exactly the connector needed in the Kit of Parts. See the top of page 12 in the Kit of Parts Checklist.

we only use two of the pins, the signal side of the female connector just sticks off the to the side, this has pass inspection every year, and it also provides us with the wire needed to make the jumper, without destroying another wire.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Justin,
"Every year" was just last year, and you got lucky. The connector that feeds the RSL has a locking device on it to keep it in place. You are provided the correct connector in the KOP. Using anything else to connect the RSL is a risk you do not need to take.

[Danny Diaz]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

The connector that feeds the RSL has a locking device on it to keep it in place. You are provided the correct connector in the KOP. Using anything else to connect the RSL is a risk you do not need to take.

Funny you mention that - we find that the 2-wire connector provided for the RSL (and pneumatic solenoids) has *just* too much plastic on it such that the locking mechanism for the RSL connector doesn't quite bite into the connector. We're using clear nail polish to provide adhesion (as opposed to super glue which would damage the plastic) - unless you've got a better suggestion?

NOTE: Our entire electronics mainboard is upside-down on the robot, so we've had to ensure the signal wires did not fall out for legacy devices (Spike / Victors) by providing our own tensioners for the wires. I cannot do the same thing for the RSL, however, which lead to the nail polish idea.

-Danny

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Sorry to be misleading, Danny. I was in a funny mood with so little sleep and too much coffee. The connector on the DSC is meant to be used with a locking, white nylon connector. They are available from various sources but anything you use (PWM for instance) that will make the connection and not damage the board should be fine. I have seen the female pins from the PWM connectors (without the shell) just pushed on to the pins in the DSC and some heatshrink added to keep everything insulated. If you have some method to tie the wiring close to the surface that the board is mounted on, the tension on the wire should keep it in place. We mount our circuitry to perforated aluminum or perf stock. The holes are close together and a tywrap fits through them very easily. By tying down PWM cables in this fashion they cannot pull out without breaking the tie first.