Ok so this is probably obvious to everyone else but can someone just confirm that we can reverse our wiring for a motor (red to black/black to red) from the motor connecting to the talon
On the output side, yes. Be very careful not to reverse the input side instead or you’ll have a good chance of frying the Talon.
I should also note that it’s generally considered better to reverse the direction in code rather than reverse the wiring.
^What he said.
Just to be clear, your motor wires connect to the Talon’s output (Green and White) wires.
As for whether you want to reverse direction using code or by connecting the motor in the opposite polarity, there are good reasons each way. Sometimes a motor is stronger in one polarity than in the other, so switching polarity in hardware helps the robot drive straight.
I suggest to my teams that they wire the green & white wires, to the motor’s black and red wires, all the same. It’s not an electrical issue; if we have to change a motor controller at competition we don’t have to remember how it was wired because they are all the same. If we have to change the direction of the motor we do it in software.
The rule that you are thinking of is this…
R61. All non-SIGNAL LEVEL wiring with a constant polarity (i.e., except for outputs of relay modules, motor controllers, or sensors) shall be color-coded along their entire length from the manufacturer as follows:
A. Red, yellow, white, brown, or black-with-stripe on the positive (e.g. +24VDC, +12VDC, +5VDC, etc.) connections
B. Black or blue for the common or negative side (-) of the connections.
The output side of any speed controller is not considered to be constant polarity. The easiest way to get your robot to move forward is to flip the polarity of the motor wiring on one side of the robot. If you don’t do this (either by wire swap or software) your robot will drive around in circles.