Legality of PDP/TalonSRX/VictorSPX Stack

[BenjaminA]

Hello Electrical-rules gurus,
My team and I are curious if our design for a PDP/TalonSRX/VictorSPX stacking system violates any Infinite Recharge rules. In particular, I’ve been looking at R44, which states The PDP, associated wiring, and all circuit breakers must be visible for Inspection. I can post the CAD of the design if anyone is interested in taking a look. Any and all opinions are appreciated.

[ClayTownR]

All circuit breakers seem visible to me. The wiring isn’t perfectly visible, but I’ve seen some teams get away with worse. The deciding factor will be whether the status lights on the motor controllers are visible, since those are generally quite important.

[GeeTwo]

The only control system parts called out in the rules as needing to be visible are:

• R44: PDP, associated wiring, breakers
• R64: Wireless Bridge (radio) diagnostic lights
• R65: Robot Signal Light(s)
• R83: Pressure gauges
• R86: Vent plug

That said, if your motor controller, RIO, PCM, or VRM LEDs aren’t visible, trouble-shooting issues is going to be a lot more difficult.

[DrWaSaBi]

Not sure if legal…but dang that looks sweet! 14 controllers. Your batteries must love you? Or at least the battery manufacturers do.

Hope your team has a great season.
Russ

[chadr03]

As an inspector I do not see anything against the rules with the arrangement you have shown so I do not forsee you having issues there.

As a mentor that tries to troubleshoot issues on my teams robot it is very beneficial to see the motor controllers status lights so I would try to arrange them where you can see the lights.

[brennan-macaig]

This looks perfectly legal. That being said, diagnosing issues may be difficult - especially since you can’t see the status lights on the motor controllers.

Although in some cases not required by the rules, the following should be visible:

• PDP For inspection
• roboRIO status lights are very useful for field staff
• Radio LEDs are required for field staff

Cheers!

[jimfl014]

Hi,

This year we have a clear polycarbonate plate covering the PDP. This plate is functional as it supports brackets used for our vertical conveyor. As a result not all of the PDP is visible. The panel can be removed for inspection. Will that get us a sticker?

[GeeTwo]

@jimfl014

The panel can be removed for inspection.

As long as the PDP, breakers, and wires are visible for inspection, R44 is not a problem.

[brennan-macaig]

Must be visible for inspection is how the rule reads. If you remove the plate, are you visible for inspection? If this is correct, then you’re all set!

edit: sniped by geetwo. Darn.

[BenjaminA]

Thanks all for your responses. When we designed the mounting of the components, we tried to make sure that the status lights would be fully visible. In this iteration of the design, the status lights are mostly visible, but on the next iteration, I think we’ll pull out the talons a bit more to reveal the status lights more. (Ignore the RSL pictured, it still needs to be mounted )