cRIO Visibility

[JeffJep]

Hi my team this year wants to place our electrical system upside down. We spent about 20 minutes looking through the rules on whether there are some indicators on the cRIO that must be seen from a judges point of view and we couldn't find anything. In past years the Robot Controller had to have certain lights visible and we wanted to make sure that this year it wasn't the same on the cRIO because if it wasn't we would just stick a mirror on a stick and we would be fine.

[EricVanWyk]

I believe that you only need to make the robot signal light be visible, but I would recommend looking in to it further. As for upside down mounting, be sure to test that orientation enough to make yourselves comfortable in choosing it.

[Russ Beavis]

For your own sake, you really should make sure that all of the cRIO's LEDs are visible (the LEDs near the power and Ethernet connectors, the LEDs on the 9472 output module and the power supply LEDs on the breakouts).

LEDs aren't very useful if you can't see them...

Besides visibility, if you can't see the LEDs then you probably can't easily service the cRIO, modules and breakouts. I'd be VERY surprised if you never needed to get back into the robot for debugging of wiring or adding new devices.

Russ

[SuperBK]

Your not worried that modules will FALL OUT of the cRio? Sure, they have latches, but why tempt nature?
Brian

[Andy L]

I'm pretty sure there are no rules against this, but for your own sanity I'd recommend not. Troubleshooting normally can be frustrating, and having your electronics in a hard to see spot could make that a lot harder.

I wouldn't worry too much about modules falling out, they're in there pretty solidly.

[EricH]

Someone asked Q&A, and the response was: "Rule <R58> requires that the Robot Signal Light must be visible when standing three feet in front of the ROBOT when it is in the STARTING CONFIGURATION. There is no specific rule regarding the visibility of the Robot Signal Light when the ROBOT is in a PLAYING CONFIGURATION. However, it is strongly recommended that the Robot Signal Light be mounted in a location that is easily visible at all times. The light is used for diagnostic purposes by field personnel. It is to your advantage to make sure they are always able to see the light, to assist in identifying and correcting any problems that may occur during a match."

As for mounting the cRIO, how you do it is up to you. Use caution, though--it just might have to last you for several years!

[Corey Chitwood]

It is true that <R58> says the Robot Signal Light must be easily visible..., but the 2009 Robot Power Distribution Diagram lists the Allen Bradley light as being the Robot Signal Light.

[samir13k]

Thats because it is the signal light lol