Electrical Board Mounting

[Chas_G]

We had a 3/4 inch plywood board, with a piece that stood verticle on one end. The height of the protrusion was the width of the c-rio, and we mounted the light to this piece also (we had a clear lid.) we mounted everyhing except the main breaker by screws, and we mounted the board to the chassis with bolts. We screwed zipties to the board to create wire "highways".

[apalrd]

If anyone saw our robot hanging, the space with messages on the bottom was where most of our electronics were mounted (on the top side). In the middle of the rear chassis pan, we had our 2 AM shifters, 4 CIM's, and 2 shift pistons, but in front of that we had the cRio sitting sideways, with the side against a piece of polycarb attached to the bottom, and the crio mounted to the front flange with bolts and plastic selves. At the rear, we riveted a piece of perforated aluminum, to which we mounted the majority of the electronics (4 Victors, 2 Spikes) with zip ties. We also zip tied all of the wiring, the heavier wires were zip tied to the rear axle, which ran directly behind the electronics. The DSC was in between the two transmissions. Above the rear chassis pan, we had the PD board floating on sheet aluminum brackets, bolted to the brackets, and another electronics pan hanging from two chassis members (riveted). The remaining two Victors and two Spikes were zip-tied to this. The three lighting power supplies (off of two of the Spikes) were attached with velcro to a 2" wide frame member. The radio was attached with velcro to a plate on the back of the arm tower, sideways, with two zip ties for the radio, two to keep the wiring tight, and around 12" total of duck tape for the connections.

Last year, we had a 4-wheel crab drive, and had a module on each side of the robot (each module had a front and back pod). We hid the Jaguars and Victors on two perforated plates inside the modules.

In 2006, 07, and 08 we had a 6wd drop-center, so we put a piece of perforated aluminum somewhere in the middle and mounted the Victors, Spikes, and RC to this using zip ties for everything. Worked well.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Please note that many of these photos show off some very nice designs. The Cheesy Poofs have a very efficient design in that the high power circuits are all centrally located, and the high current runs to speed controllers are all short and direct. Please note that the battery, circuit breaker and PD are right in the middle of the robot. This design reduces wire loss to a minimum. You receive an Al's Gold Star for electrical design.

[electron]

because of the very limited space we had this year, we mounted everything in four (reasonably close together) sections.
-we mounted the cRIO sideways along the back of our robot on a sheet of lexan.
-the PD board, the jaguars and some victors were on 3 sheets of shelf liner which was attatched to the aluminum bottom of the robot.
(after some testing, we found that 3 layers shelf liner was an inexpensive way to provide excellent shock absorbing. )

-the DSC was mounted up and to the left. it was inaccessible in its original location down in the bottom of the robot.
-the final section was sideways on the left of the robot on a sheet of lexan. it contained the main breaker and the rest of the victors.

this setup might sound very spread out, but it was so compact, we were worried about the Jaguars overheating. because of this we mounted one of the server fans above the whole setup, and the wireless bridge was next to that.

we learned about wire management the hard way.

[David Dawson]

Ours this year used 1/4" smoked polycarbonate and some random plastic trays from a 3d printer we used to have. Note DON'T EVER attempt to hide wires like I did this year. When you discover your board has an issue that you need to diagnose you WILL feel the burn!

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by David Dawson

Ours this year used 1/4" smoked polycarbonate and some random plastic trays from a 3d printer we used to have. Note DON'T EVER attempt to hide wires like I did this year. When you discover your board has an issue that you need to diagnose you WILL feel the burn!

Hiding wires is ok when done properly. In 2005 we used a plastic channel for our wires. It had a removable top so that in normal operation the wires were hidden but if we needed to see them we could take the top off. Hiding wires is also doable as long as you properly label wires.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/19720 (2005 RUSH electrical box)

[kstl99]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Hiding wires is ok when done properly. In 2005 we used a plastic channel for our wires. It had a removable top so that in normal operation the wires were hidden but if we needed to see them we could take the top off. Hiding wires is also doable as long as you properly label wires.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/19720 (2005 RUSH electrical box)

This is the best way to go, if you have the room. Not only does it look neat but it is faster and easier to wire, troubleshoot and change and the cabling is protected.

Labeling is also important. We label all wires, cables and components using the sheet and line number from its location on the schematic so it can be found quickly on the schematic.

[imjessica]

this is really useful

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Jessica,
Now that the label issue has been broached I will discuss our method. 3M makes a tape marking product that is ten different colors (EIA color code, look it up) and we mark everything in the path. The motor, the controller, the wires, the PWM and the breaker and it's position in the PD. We even mark the position on the side car where the PWM goes. If we are searching out a problem on the Blue motor, we check to see if the Blue speed controller is powered and lit. If not we check to see if the Blue breaker is in place. If all looks good there we check the blue PWM cable is connected at both ends to the Blue locations. When we have more than ten objects that have to be marked, we simply use a black tape with a colored tape. The tape dispenser is a little pricey at $30 from Digikey but it is worth it. We need no schematics, troubleshooting is as fast as looking into the robot, and it easy enough for everyone to understand.
If you search color marking or color labels you will find several references. If you search on the First website, I think my electrical presentation is still available and it has pictures and other helpful hints.

[JesseK]

Al, we do this as well, but we use several colors worth of tiny zip ties. 4 colors nets us up to 16 combinations. We haven't been very good at labeling sensor wire since many of the wires are thinner than the zipties can attach to with slipping -- so I'll get our lead to look into this tape. In '06/'07, we also used tiny dots of multiple colors of non-conductive nail polish but stopped because its legality was brought up and was somewhat vague.

Thanks for the update.

[DavidGitz]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

The motor, the controller, the wires, the PWM and the breaker and it's position in the PD. We even mark the position on the side car where the PWM goes. If we are searching out a problem on the Blue motor, we check to see if the Blue speed controller is powered and lit. If not we check to see if the Blue breaker is in place. If all looks good there we check the blue PWM cable is connected at both ends to the Blue locations.

Al had posted a spreadsheet for detailing which item connects where a while back on CD-Media and we have really taken to that and using colored tape to identify components. We haven't used this in a competition yet but over the last 4 months of working on multiple projects during the off-season and now during the build-season this is a FANTASTIC way to go. As Al said, once things are installed there is no need for any schematics or for reading labels that twist/turn and are hard to read. We bought this from Amazon and works pretty well, however you probably want to avoid using the red or black tape for labeling components...

Also I can't find Al's original spreadsheet for documenting this, here is our version which is slightly modified but still performs the same function.

[imjessica]

Hey everyone! more pictures of circuits would be really, really helpful. The older pictures have different pd boards and batteries. If someone could also have some closeups of certain connections (like the wires connected to the pd board or the jaguar) that would be VERY helpful. I cant figure out with the outlets on the jaguar are called. thanks so much!!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by imjessica

I cant figure out with the outlets on the jaguar are called. thanks so much!!

Jess,
If you look close at the Jaguar in the area of the screws, you will see one side has molded into the case V+ and V- while the other side is M+ and M-. The M screws are the motor side and V screws are the side you wire to the PD.