We started off this year pretty clueless to all of the little nitty gritty details about electrical compenents. Heck, we spent a week trying to figure out why our limit switch wasn’t working, to find out that we reimaged our cRIO wrong. Our electrical subteam has had a pretty terrible streak of documenting over the years, so we decided to consolidate our experiences into a giant electrical guide for everyone!
It’s pretty long (spans ~130 pages) and we still have some sections and links to add, mostly concerning sensors. We hope this serves to be helpful =D
WOW! You really put some effort in creating a valuable product. I’ll probably use it for training the electronics and programming sub-teams next fall with the caveat that some of the control system components will change.
Nice work. Give yourself a pat on the back.
Everything on this manual is free for everyone to use. Let us know if you would like the PDF/other formats. We’re currently working on a printable version.
My thoughts exactly. Too bad that a lot of this material will be obsolete in 2015, but what a start for the rookies this September. How can we make sure they all know enough to look for it? We have a CT FIRST University day coming up so I’ll be sure to mention this compendium. Thanks.
I want to congratulate you on taking the initiative of creating such a guide - this is something I am currently working with team leadership on my team to create (similar, but more specifically electronics-oriented).
However, I just gave the whole thing a quick-browse and I’ve found a couple areas that need work (mostly electrical). Here are a few I found quickly:
Wago Connector (Under Power Connector) - The Wago is not used to jump power from the PDB to the cRIO power connector. The cRIO power connector on the PDB has a 4-pole connector on the PDB and plugs to the 4-pole or 2-pole power connector on the cRIO. The 4-pole power connector on the PDB allows you to use the 24V connector on the PDB for both the cRIO as well as 24V pneumatics. What I’m sure you MEANT to say was that the Wago connector is used to provide power from the 12V branches on the PDB to the Digital Sidecar power connector.
Motor Controllers - the Jaguar, Talon, and Victor breaker definitions are incorrect. The Jaguar, Talon, and Victors can all use 20A breakers if you wanted - you must provide the correct breaker to protect the wires used AND provide enough power for the current draw of the device being used (whichever is less). For instance, if you use 16AWG wires, you need to use 20A breakers - but you can use a Talon to power a CIM with ease; however, that won’t provide enough current to the current-hungry CIM motor. So you would require at least 12AWG wire to route power to the Talon, so that then you can use a 40A breaker for the CIM.
Victor - The victor does NOT provide square-root power to a device. If you have a 12V input, you can provide a 12V output. Not really sure where you got that gem from.
Victors, Talons, and Jaguars are all interchangeable. Except for the fact that in my Humble but Accurate Opinion Jaguars should never be used for drivetrains. The reason lies behind the “software-controlled progressive current limitations” built into the firmware. But, functionally and power-wise, they are interchangeable.
Spike - it should be noted that a spike can also use a 20A snap-action breaker and is not limited to a 20A fuse.
When wiring your Camera, be careful - the metal post sticking out of the camera is likely connected to the common (ground) wire of the power input. Make sure the camera mount is insulated from the robot frame.
In the same regard, be careful with the cRIO. The cRIO’s case is also connected to the common (ground) wire of the power input. Make sure the cRIO is insulated from your frame (usually I just mount the cRIO with velcro).
Also note that this is only legal when powering a compressor.
When wiring your Camera, be careful - the metal post sticking out of the camera is likely connected to the common (ground) wire of the power input. Make sure the camera mount is insulated from the robot frame.
This is only true on the old Axis 206 camera. The M1011 and M1013 do not have this problem.
Analog Breakout: The red analog breakout has the switching regulator. Both blue versions have 0.25 amp linear regulators. The 2014 analog breakout does not have the battery voltage jumper. AI 8 is automatically jumpered.
Servo: Should mention 6v jumper on digital sidecar
This is a really great guide to all of the electrical parts, I now plan to use this is as a guide for the Powerpoint to show rookies at the beginning of the school year in the future!
Can you point me to the rule that says this? I thought this was the case, but one of our mentors disagreed with me and asked to see the rule. I looked, and much to my surprise could not find anything. Or is this an exception to the “anything not explicitly forbidden is allowed” rule?
R64 makes it illegal to modify the spike (which presumably includes changing the fuse for a circuit breaker) and then R64-E specifically allows the use of a circuit breaker when running the compressor.
WOW!! This is incredible and clearly had an impressive amount of work put into it. I will definitely look at this again and learn from it more. I never knew cRIO stood for something!! This guide really explains why specifically the stuff we wire works (and how it works!!), which is important. Thanks so much!!
Interesting, I was inspecting robots all weekend and that was never brought up. I wonder what the logic behind limiting a breaker to only the compressor is.
The document should be updated to emphasize that snap breakers are recommended (but not required) for the compressor, as the current draw on the compressor could be enough to pop the fuse when it starts.
