Hello this is team 9172, we connected out motor controller to our red line moters and we aren’t sure if there is an issue with how it was connected. Put motor controllers are blinking so we think they are connected but we arent sure.
In the second picture it looks like you probably have a short from one of the motor terminals to the case. This is bad. Also you really should insulate those terminals in general with heat shrink or electrical tape. I would redo those connections.
How can we fix the short? Also what is the motor terminal and case?
The motor terminal is the little metal tab where the wire attaches. The motor case is the metal part of the motor. In the photo the two metal pieces are touching, thus it’s a short. You need an insulator - a non-conductive material like electrical tape - in between these two metal pieces to prevent them from shorting.
The reason I’m saying redo those connections is the soldering also doesn’t look like it’s fully penetrated the connection, so it probably doesn’t have a good electrical connection. You’d need to cut off the wires, clean the terminals, and solder them again, this time keeping the stripped portion of the wire only as long as necessary and keeping it taut/seated in the hole while you solder it, so the solder can fully wick onto both the tab and the wire.
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Your team may benefit from this and also investing in Anderson Powerpoles connectors and crimpers. Kits get you started and then you can buy connectors individually.
https://www.vexrobotics.com/217-6457.html
Generally teams will put connectors on their motor controllers and then also on the motor leads themselves so that you’re never splicing wires like this.
Alternatively you should purchase Wago connectors:
I believe these are the same ones on Amazon but don’t quote me.
100% agree with the above recommendations to redo the soldering on this motor.
If nothing else, at the very least you should be using some form of quick disconnect. I don’t recommend these but they are used by some teams when they’re first starting out. Just don’t skimp on these things. I recommend the Anderson powerpoles as they create strong connections when crimped correctly. Also don’t skimp on cheap crimpers. Every match you don’t move in or lose some function in is money down the drain and fewer ranking points you can earn.
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A few things to check:
- Is the CAN bus connected to the Rio and PDP/PDH?
- Have you used the Phoenix client to assign CAN bus IDs to the motor controllers?
- The Phoenix client also has the capability to test-drive the motors, so I would try that as well
I would recommend you follow the “Bring Up” tutorial on CTRE for the Talon SRX motor controllers: Bring Up: Talon FX/SRX and Victor SPX — Phoenix documentation
How can we test drive on the phoenix turner client? Where do we go specifically?
Thank you! But after we had tested out the notor it was able to raise the arm but not turn the other motors
Did we wire something wrong?
I don’t see anything obviously wrong from these pictures, but it’s really hard to diagnose wiring problems that way. Do the additional motors show up in Phoenix Tuner? Are they assigned distinct CAN ids?
Also, be familiar with reading the status lights on motor controllers. See Status Light Quick Reference — FIRST Robotics Competition documentation
To be quite honest, this seems like the sort of thing most efficiently sorted out in person, but you’re a little too far away from me. Are you in contact with any of the teams in your area?
Hey, I see you and your teammate have been making a lot of posts on CD, that’s great! I also see that your team is competing this weekend so it’s crunch time for you guys.
I don’t want to derail this thread so keep asking questions and get answers for as long as you can. As soon as you get to your event, please ask for help right away! Other teams want you up and running too! If you don’t know who to ask, I would ask the LRI at the event for suggestions on which teams to start with.
@Akash_Rastogi do you have any contacts on teams local to them?
Going to echo Molly. Please go see an LRI ASAP at your event. Then reach out to 294, 846, 5199 and a few others immediately upon arrival. These teams and many more will help you through out the day.
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Thank you everyone! For the help and support right now the motors work but we have just 1 more issue and its our chain, it isnt able to lift up the arm and we dont know how to solve this issue
From what I can see it looks like you’re jumping the chain on the bottom sprocket, do you have anyway of shortening your chain to tension it more?
You also might just not have enough torque so it’s not strong enough to move it, if that’s the case you could use some springs from a hardware store to try and counterbalance the arm some.
Not an RI or an LRI, but I will be at the event.
@Hey_its_Bryan, I’ll stop by your pit tomorrow morning if I’m not otherwise occupied, say around pit open time, if that’s OK. Eyes on can spot some issues, and I can point you in the right direction.
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That would be much appreciated, thanks! 
Hey are you in Da Vinci today? Im wearing a blue flannel