Electrical Board Mounting

[Chris is me]

I'm basically only posting this so that future Shaker Robotics kids will see it and tell themselves "never again"...



We had about 5 preship electrical boards. We cut two of them wrong. We had a third wired up neatly, then we changed the structure of the robot a few hours before ship so we had to redo it all in a few hours at WPI. We kind of just mounted the Victors wherever they fit. Since we're probably removing the entire pneumatics system, the new electrical kids will have a chance to rewire the whole robot with all of the scattered electrical parts closer together. Everything should be mounted on 1/8" lexan, or the trimmed piece of pultruded fiberglass up top.

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I'm basically only posting this so that future Shaker Robotics kids will see it and tell themselves "never again"...

Ask Tom about Megamaid

[Matt Howard]

We mount everything on to lexan, and attach it to the robot with either velcro or screws. Most years we have also had to hinge portions of it so we could work on the robot.

[GiannaRae23]

We mounted ours on a board last year. Yes, like a wood board. No, it didn't catch on fire. Haha. We used zip ties to keep the wires organized and a label maker with a flag function to label each bunch of wires appropriately. It was a life saver when things needed changed...Also, our cRIO was held in place with velcro...that stuff is your friend. If I find any pictures of ours from last year, I'll be sure to post them. Hope this helped!

[imjessica]

Originally Posted by GiannaRae23

We mounted ours on a board last year. Yes, like a wood board. No, it didn't catch on fire. Haha. We used zip ties to keep the wires organized and a label maker with a flag function to label each bunch of wires appropriately. It was a life saver when things needed changed...Also, our cRIO was held in place with velcro...that stuff is your friend. If I find any pictures of ours from last year, I'll be sure to post them. Hope this helped!

yes that would be helpful! did you use two layers? im not sure we have the same type of board but ours in kinda thin im afraid it wont support the weight

also, did you mount the battery on the board? its super heavy I wanted to mount it on the side of our robot but im afraid thatll unbalance it

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by imjessica

also, did you mount the battery on the board? its super heavy I wanted to mount it on the side of our robot but im afraid thatll unbalance it

Last year, our electrical board and our battery weighed about the same. Mounting one on one side and one on the other balanced things out nicely.

[NS_Radication]

My team is using industrial strength velcro and honeycomb structure plastic.

[CalTran]

Looks like this would be the thread to post this question into:
With the addition of the barrier this year, anyone have a shockmounting idea for the electronics board? We usually put the cRio on rubber material to absorb minor impacts, but this year looks like a more heavy duty mount is in order. We were thinking something like surgical tubing standoffs. Modeling it off the rubber standoffs of the pre-2011 compressor. (That big grey paperweight.)

Suggestions?

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by CalTran

We usually put the cRio on rubber material to absorb minor impacts, but this year looks like a more heavy duty mount is in order.

I wouldn't worry about the cRIO. It's very rugged. I worry mostly about what's connected to the modules, and make sure everything is securely tightened down.

[apalrd]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

I wouldn't worry about the cRIO. It's very rugged. I worry mostly about what's connected to the modules, and make sure everything is securely tightened down.

Or the modules themselves...

In 2010, our cRio was mounted horizontally (with the modules facing the rear of the robot), and we managed to eject our whole analog module going over the bump. No damage to the cRio, but the analog module was no longer attached.

We promptly glued the modules in with silicone, and now we always secure the module clips with clear duct tape.

[Passionflute]

Our board is plastic bolted down to the robot's frame, with everything screwed and/or velcro-ed on. The wires are "organized" (I use the term loosely at this point) with zip-ties. Sorry, no picture yet. Right now it looks like a mess but it will get better once we're sure everything is plugged in right. 'Cuz, you know, it helps to actually know which jag is plugged into which port. Thank goodness for the label machine. Also, if you want to be entertained and frightened out of your mind at the same time, attach the test board with (flimsy) zip ties and ram the bot into the wall. It wasn't on purpose, but it sure was interesting. Oops...

[Lightfoot26]

Not gonna lie, I wanna marry the person over at #254 who does their wiring... I have admired it for years. just sayin'