Hello, I am a programmer for rookie team 3965. This is our very first year and we are already having issues, especially with the Axis Camera provided in the kit. It was working fine with the standard adapter, but we wanted it to run on the on-board power, so the electrical team spliced the wires off from the adapter and attached it to the board, with the appropriate 20amp breaker. The camera refused to power on. It was receiving ample power as we measured it from the pin that attached to the camera itself. We then tried reattaching the severed wire back to the adapter, to check if there was an issue with the on-board. Now it will not work at all. Is there a chance the camera is fried or was it the splice that caused the issue?
Are you sure that it wasn’t connected backwards (+ to -, and - to +)? That could cause a problem.
We checked that multiple times to confirm that was not an issue, still to no avail.
You don’t need a breaker to run the camera. Are you using the special power port next to the C-RIO power port on the PCB (Power Distribution Board)? It’s on the opposite end of where the battery connects to the PCB. Take a look at this diagram to see if it’s wired right. http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FRC/Game_and_Season__Info/2010_Assets/2010_Robot_Power_Distribution_RevA.pdf
You could try to splice the cord back onto the wall adapter to see it it still works.
Good luck!
Thanks! We did not try the special connection so I will try that. We did try to resplice to the adapter and it still did not work. Thanks for that file by the way. That will greatly help out our electrical and design team :).
The camera is a 5 volt device. There is a dedicated 5 volt power port on the Power Distribution Board specifically for powering the camera. If you connected it to a 20 amp circuit, you have most likely fried it with 12 volts.
Oops.
That’s exactly what I did. I accidentally plugged it in to 12 volts for about 30 seconds before realizing my mistake, and now the camera won’t turn on at all and has a horrible burnt smell coming from the power port.
That’s quite unfortunate. Sounds like you need a new camera. 
Yeah it looks like it. Why can’t the camera power cable use a wago connector like the router does so you can’t accidentally plug it into the 12V terminals?
I could very easily plug the router into the 12 volt terminals without thinking at all:D .
The reason is that the camera was built to use a wall adapter, we are using it in a way it wasn’t originally meant to be used and thus there was no need to design it to work the way we use it, or any other way really.
That sounds backwards. If it had a Wago connect like the router, you could much more easily accidentally plug it into the 12 volt router supply.
The way the power distribution system was designed, all of the white Wago connectors are for 12 volt power (24 volts to the Solenoid Breakout was an afterthought). The camera power supply is exceptional; it was originally the only 5 volt device in the system, and it uses the special no-connector port so you can’t accidentally plug it into a 12 volt supply.
The problem is you can think it’s for the 12V supply and put the wires into a Wago connector (thinking that is what you’re supposed to do).
I was a little disappointed in the “How to Configure Your Camera” section this year. There was a picture of the power distribution board labeled “Camera Power Feed…”, which is great that there’s a picture, but there were 3 power feeds in the picture (5 if you include the power sources fed via breakers). How is a rookie team to know that it’s the 5V source vs the 12V source vs the breaker fed source? They’re all in the picture. An arrow photo-shopped into the picture pointing to the proper power source would have been helpful (or a note clarifying that it’s the source laveled “5V”).
I know that the control system drawings were clearly labeled to show which power source feeds the camera, but just following the “Getting started” document I can see how someone would try to feed the camera from the wrong source.
I guess I have too much experience to have considered that as a valid concern. The red and black Wago connections aren’t intended for the small-gauge wires of the camera power cable.
I also have a deeply ingrained habit of double-checking power connections and voltage requirements before wiring things up and plugging them in.
You and I both have that habit, but unfortunately a lot of rookie teams without adequate mentors haven’t built those habits yet. As soon as I saw that picture in the setup guide, I thought “uh oh”. Especially since the closest and largest power feed in the picture was one coming off of a 30A breaker. I’m willing to bet that is why someone that posted here hooked their camera up through the breaker.
One thing I would like to see is the manuals passed out to a group of high school students that have no FIRST experience and have them try to do the entire setup. That would help catch common errors and questions, and highlight where some clarification is needed. Maybe this is already done, I don’t know.