Hi, my team was considering mounting our electrical system similarly, so we wondering what problems can come from mounting vertically? Also, what advice would you give in order to minimize those problems?
This is so neat it makes me cry a little.
This is only the second time in 15 years we have mounted vertically, the first time was only a couple items.
The big thing I was concerned about was making sure everything would stay where we wanted it. That’s why we went with the wire way this year versus Zip Ties and anchors. Wire way gives us more freedom in adding or removing vs. having to cut or leave loose the zip ties and have saggy wires. No one likes saggy wires.
The PDP, Breaker, and gyro are bolted on to the panel, the wire way is adhesive backed, and everything else is attached via velcro.
I also think it needs to be the right design to go vertical. This years robot design made it the obvious choice for us.
By far are best looking control board ever. We always strive to make it look like this, but don’t always achieve the success.
:ahh: This looks incredible! Not only is everything in place but there are labels everywhere: labels on the wires, labels on the PDP, labels on the motors, and even labels on the tubing.
If I may ask, what are the blue things surrounding the tubing and the gray ‘restraints’ holding the wires in the place? Additionally, how accessible are the wires in the case of electrical failure?
Going vertical gives one huge benefit: less problems with metal swarf falling into the components and causing shorts.
Agreed. It’s also often easier to see what you’re doing as you do testing and trouble shooting. We had a vertical board in our rookie year, 2012, a mostly vertical one (20-30 degrees from vertical) in 2015, and we’re going vertical again this year.
The blue restraint is just sprial wrap designed for organizing/protecting wires and tubing. It comes in Various sizes. I bought it from McMaster Carr, I’m sure you can get it elsewhere, but they had the colors we wanted.
The spiral wrap will come off very easily and the wires in the wire way are just held in place by the duct itself. you can easily pull out a single conductor without interfering with the others, too much.
Yes, you can get this (or something equivalent) at any auto parts store, though likely not in blue.
Thank you, and everyone else who helped explain the benefits, I think that is more than enough for my team. Thanks, and good luck at competition!
I wish our control board looked this good. Last year ours was frequently called a “rats nest,” and while it’s better this year it’s still not good.
Sometimes that is just how it works out. Ours was towards the rats nest spectrum also because of the little room that was given for the controls. This year we made the effort.
The really big thing that my team has seen when mounting vertically is on a long qualification day the constant pushing, running into, and jostling of the robot could work some of the connections loose or the mounting screws/tape loose. Always check the connections and mounting pieces to make sure they are secure before and after the match.
Great looking board. Very clean.