The new breaker panel has a 3 pin connector next to the LED. It isn’t labeled in the manual though. Does anyone know what it does?
There is no documentation, but if I were to guess, (since it is close to the LED) it is likely for remote mounting a monitor, dual color, LED. This is just a guess not a statement!
Is this the connector for reporting tripped breakers to the control system?
Matt
From the “Guidelines, Tips & Good Practices” pdf on the ‘Documents and Updates’ section on the FIRST Site (page 21):
Final note: The PWM socket is not used on this assembly. The DB9 connection can be used to send
CB Panel status information to the RC unit via the Program port connection on the RC.
So, it looks like it is currently un-used.
-Nate
Good to know, I was wondering about that myself.
It would be nice to monitor the breaker during matches, is there a way to do that?
It’s setup to read the breaker status in the default code if the breaker panel is connected to the RC program port.
if (aBreakerWasTripped)
{
for (i=1;i<29;i++)
{
if (Breaker_Tripped(i))
User_Byte1 = i; /* Update the last breaker tripped on User_Byte1 (to demonstrate the use of a user byte)
Normally, you do something else if a breaker got tripped (ex: limit a PWM output) */
}
}
It(the PWM port) may not be used with this set up, but could it be used? Could we control the panel or atleast see whats going on durring the match?
This is not an offical statement from IFI but i would reccomend highly against connecting anything to that port this season. You do not know the circuitry for that pwm port and since IFI says its not for use this season what i would do is take a lil electrical tape or gaffers tape and cover over that port so by accident it is not used or damaged this year.
All of that is done via the serial port, not the PWM port. As Mark showed, the user program knows the complete status. That data is also sent to the dashboard, so you can see it real time during a match.
There isn’t any reason, that I can think of, to try to figure out what the PWM port is used for, as everything we want is already provided.
If would be nice if the PWM port replicated the function of the LED, so that you could see if any breakers tripped on OI without having to using the serial port on the RC (since you might be using the serial port for something more important like a custom circuit).
You could always come up with a system to integrate the output from the breaker panal into the digital I/O, or you could use the tether port for the second serial device. Also, there is the TTL port which is ostensibly for the camera, but you can make the camera run on the I/O if you really need to.
Yes you can connect it with a PWM this year. Any status can be viewed through dashboard. Go here for more info http://www.ifirobotics.com/circuit-breaker-panel.shtml, also, make note that the bottom of the page has a bit of information.
Careful, what they’re talking about in that document is the DB9 port which can be used in your program and through a properly configured dashboard port. I don’t think they are talking about the PWM slot near the LED.
Ah, yes, your right, my bad. I went ahead and read through the reference guide. I automatically assumed it was the PWM connector just by reading the web page. Ok, so it uses the DB9 connector to do that. HMMMMMMM now i am curious as to what the PWM port is used for 
.
The question of the function of the extra connector is answered here: http://www.ifirobotics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=165
I looked into the documentation for the breaker panel:
Section 4 of this PDF explains how to use the serial port.
The isometric view in this PDF states that it is an unused connector.
Hope this helped
I am confused on how this years breaker works. Last years was VERY simple. They seem to be getting more complicated.
What are you confused about? I can try and help you if you need some. I actually have found it more simple than last years, but thats just me for you 
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Does anyone, or has anyone, seen a way to detect the current with the new panel? Such as what the robot is drawing at the time. I have a 600 amp shunt which I had a thought about interfacing with the bot and watching the readings even if its just for testing.
-Mike