Simple enough question, how do wire up limelight for the new season? The docs don’t include the new radio and recommend you use a Ethernet switch, is this needed anymore? Also with all the stuff we probably need a vrm, it also says use a limelight-only vrm do we need 2?
Technically, all you need to do is use an ethernet cable from one of the POE ports on the new radio to your Limelight.
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Would this work just fine?
Note Limelight (as of 2024) recommends powering it from a VRM.
2024 Update - We recommend the use of a separate VRM to power up to 2 limelights via the 12V outputs. The VRM will help protect your Limelights against load dumps and high voltages due to new regenerative braking features.
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uhhh @Brandon_Hjelstrom that’s real ambitious guidance, we definitely could not run two LL off our single VRM this year.
(One did have a Coral attached for game piece detection, maybe that made the difference?)
Presumably the two limelight per vrm is in the context of using 3gs. According to limelight docs, the 3g has a max power consumption of 4w vs 7w on the 3.
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We were wondering the same thing and also how to wire three Limelights this season (doubt we will use three honestly). Last year, we used a Brainbox, as recommended in the Limelight documentation, but we’ve heard about reliability concerns with the brainbox.
During the offseason, we powered a single Limelight via a VRM and used the new radio as a network switch (with the dip switch off), which worked well. However, with three Limelights, we’re wondering how other teams are managing their setups.
Are there alternative network switch or power distribution solutions that you’ve found to be reliable for multiple Limelights?
During the offseason, Ive experimented with running triple limelights on the robot. I followed the guide for the zebraswitch by team 900 which is pretty much a tp-link litewave switch with the barrel jack replaced with wires directly soldered to the pcb inside. As for powering the limelights, I found this passive poe board on amazon which I hooked up to one of the big ports on the pdh with a 40a fuse (probably should do something with a lower limit). Worked like a charm. I can vouch for the simple zebraswitch setup since at the two offseason comps I ran it at, there was no break in connection between the radio and the rio which were both connected to the switch.
Also, I have a personal grudge against brainboxes switch, or one of the models; it died due to transient voltage at our second comp.
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Note that if you’ve enabled PoE on the new radio, DO NOT PLUG A NON PASSIVE POE DEVICE INTO THOSE PORTS!
It WILL kill the NIC on that client device.
It will forever annoy me that this new radio STILL doesn’t solve this issue.
Pls, 2026 802.3af/at PoE compatible radio…