We’re trying a smaller electronics box this year, seems to be working so far. Fabricated out of 0.050 sheet metal in our shop.
I’m interested on the wire management on this. It also looks like it’s hinged but the way the jaguar is mounted it doesn’t look like it closes.
Curious how ventilation is going to work. Them electronics need to breathe!
It looks like it might be a nightmare to trouble shoot
Trouble shoot may be a bit difficult but not a nightmare.
Hope the main circuit breaker is easily accessible. If I had to do this, I would make it in polycarbonate (lexan etc) to prevent electrical noise around roboRIO (I am not a expert but would cautious).
It appears that the pivot is placed a bit above the top of the jaguar on the near half and above the level of the PDP breakers on the other half. There should be clearance, but I can’t easily tell how much there will be.
Our goal with this design was:
- Allow for electronics build off of robot
- Electronics components either covered, mounted upside down, or mounted vertically
- Easy to reach connectors on PDB from the side
- Conserve space
It’s made with 0.050 6061-T6 aluminum sheet. The top and bottom tabs on each side are fastened together with #8 screws. During the build, we install just the bottom screws, and can lay it almost completely open on the workbench. On the robot it can open about 30 degrees – wide enough to get in to swap speed controllers and change wiring. If we need to open it further, the battery box next to it is fastened with 4 screws and is easily removed. The PDB and breaker are screwed to the box – everything else is attached with Velcro
Here’s a view of it from the side – plenty of room for the Jag in there.
During the build, we did switch to use Talons inside there for five of our motors, as the layout worked better. We also moved the PDB up slightly to avoid interfering with the machine screws that attach it to the chassis. Because of that, we moved the circuit breaker to the outside of the box, “behind” the PDB.
I’m not super concerned about heat buildup. The unit is built like a chimney with an open top, bottom. The sides each have 16 square inches of opening for air to flow in. It’s made out of aluminum, which is great at dissipating heat.
Here’s an as-built photo. It shows the wire management.