This is our electrical box so far. The sensor wires and the motor output wires have not been run yet, but the box is ready for our programming team. The box is easily removable and weighs only 11 lbs.
Sweet!. it’s Going to be realy easy to work on, thats for shure
Very nice job on the Electrical Box. what I like about it is, it is modular and can be taken out anytime and also it has the labels which makes it easier at competitions when you got a match in 10 minutes.
I like the modular system and the labels on everything, but my only concern with this is where are all the output wires (the ones going to the motors, selenoids, etc.) and how easy will those be to disconnect. 469 had an extremely organized board last year (of course, we never took a picture ) and we had various wires leading out with quick disconnects for theoretical ease of removal. Truth was, it required everything short of removing the transmissions to get the board out. So my conclusion, or rather my warning- make sure you have easy access to the output wires. Kudos on the system, it looks great.
_Alex
Correct me if I am wrong, but won’t the rubbing of electrical wires in the slots cause a potential hazard for an electrical short.
Unless, the makeup of the slotted material is non-metallic?
In competitions, things move around, wires get their jackets rubbed on nearby materials, and I just see something potentially bad happening here.
Sorry!
I like the use of the Panduit wireway. I use the wireway quite often where I work for use on our automation equipment. It protects the wires while still allowing easy access to replace or change anything.
The wireway is plastic (ABS I believe). The wireway is designed not to have sharp edges, but of course you could create a sharp edge where you cut it to size. It would take a good or lucky hit for the wires to be significantly damaged inside the wireway, and if that was the case then most likely the damaged wires would be the least of your worries.
It looks nice and organized, but how much do the components weigh without the box? Seems to me that it would be a lot less than 11 lb.
ONLY 11lbs…?!?
The box is not finished so the output and sensor wires are not in the picture. There will be connector blocks coming out of one side of the box for the sensors and motor outputs. Ideally, they will be easily accessed and removed.
As for the wire raceway, I can’t see anyway that the wires could get cut.
The weight without the box is probably around 6-8 pounds, but they are mounted and protected in the box. The weight cost is a small price for the benefits. A lot of the wiring can be finished before the robot is even built.
Let me start out by saying wow! that is probably the first neatest, cleanest easiest, user friendliest wiring panel i have ever seen, it will be extremely easy to work on any wiring problems with the robot as well as any other modules that surround it ( no wires getting in the way )
Very nice job, I hope our team can make a box that nice. The only thing missing is the long wires that have to run out to the motors. I like the cable management, nice job;)
looks sweet can’t wait to see ya at finger lakes! we got a lil thing up our sleeve for electronics too. ill post a picture during the later weeks of the season. Great Job!
Nice box… I like the organization and that everything should be easily accessible! Cool that your robot will give you enough room to put that in as well!
Only one thing you might want to consider(if you havent already)… make sure that you can easily show your box and all the wiring to inspectors… they are going to want to see that each motor is properly wired (which would be kind of difficult given your picture). It will depend on the inspector, but some may ask you to take it apart (or if you can flip it over/open the wire areas).
Looks Great Guys! Nice work! I’m glad to see that AZores and Jimmy came up with the modular design. Should keep the electrical demons down this year. Fortunately you don’t have the clearance issues we did last year in the chasis.
Stopped and talked to DEnnis on Tuesday or Wensday. Saw the Cad of the chasis. Glad to see you are still using a similar design to past years. I will be boring out the gears for the XRP Trannys as soon as DZores gets them. I wish I could participate more this year, but I am extremely busy with trying toi sell my house, Amy’s house, finding a new house, planning wedding stuff…the list never ends. Although, sitting out is really killing me right now. Not a big fan of the Game this year. Kinda glad I don’t have to worry about building a machine for it.
DZores gave me an idea of the Arm you will be using. Anthony always comes up with somethig cool. Glad to here the build is going better this year. Last year’s build season was extremely difficult for Dennis and I. Glad to see you guys are pulling together when Sponsership is so up in the air. Tell everyone I say hello. I will try to stop by this week. Interested in seeing how the Team is progressing and seeing all my lold friends. Take care, I will see you soon, PZores! :eek:
Don’t worry, Kim. The Panduit cable channels have a snap-on cover that is easily removed when desired.
RUSH, I’m very impressed.
whats up master P! i hope all is going well with you and amy trying to sell the houses! let me know when your stoppin by OSMTech.
Austin/Jimmy- Box looks great! heh. apparently im still thinking like you two, which is a good thing in my opinion. if you guys get any more real cool add-ons to it, you’ll have to show me before class starts.
keep up the good work and thanks for the compliments on my board.
Question: Where did you guys buy/acquire your Panduit wire-way? We have checked some of the websites but we haven’t found what we wanted. Any recommendations would be nice. Thank you in advance!
I’m extremely impresed of the neatness of this box. Great job you guys!! I hope our wiring is as neat and organized. It certainly makes your lives easier. Good job on the design, good work pays off in the long run.
The cable raceway can be ordered from www.mcmaster.com
We have finally finished the primary box and are working on the 2nd one. It is amazing how many sensor wires we are running. You don’t always realize how many you need until you start talking about: Pots,limits,gear-tooth sensors,camera,servos,Auton box and the like. We will post the finished product soon.
Very nice wiring job. I truly enjoy panel wiring. However, where did you find a crimping tool to crimp the right-angle QDs? I have purchased these parts and tried in vain to crimp with standard crimping tools. I have been thinking of grinding the cutting jaws out of a tool, providing a gap for the plastic housing.
Thanks