Electrical and Programming Tips and Tricks October 22, 2011

Mr. Lim  Member of the original Canadian FRC team  Team 188  First Canadian recipient of an FRC scholarship  Kettering University / GMI  Former COO of Flatline Solutions Inc (FSI)  Started by 188 alumni  Former Runnymede CI (Team 1310)  Current Crescent School (Team 610)

Electrical Board Materials  Corrugated Plastic  Source: Front Lawns (Staples? Grand and Toy)  ¼” Birch Sheet (Baltic / Russian)  Source: Lumber Yard (Home Depot?)  1/8” Lexan Sheet  Source: Piedmont Plastics

Electrical Board Layout  Start w/ Battery  Breaker  Power Distribution Board (PDB)  Then work from PDB “outwards”  Footprint Cutouts  Mount a spare speed controller

Electrical Component Mounting  Zip Ties  Creating plastic studs  Source: Sayal  Adhesive Velcro  Make sure you are consistent which side goes where  Hook always on Component  Loop always on Electrical Board  Source: Home Depot

Wire Connectors  Battery Connector  Try and use / cut the one they give you  Shorter length here MATTERS!  Source: Rosspar  Don’t crimp without the proper crimper!  Solder using a torch…

Wire Connectors  Spade Tabs / Terminals  Replace Motor-Side Ring Terminals with Spade Tabs  Source: Terminals: Sayal  Source: Tabs: Digi-Key  Disconnects at motor  Anderson Power Pole (small)  Source: Rosspar

Wire Connectors  PWM Cables  Worth it to make your own  ACCEPT ONLY PERFECT CRIMPS!!!  3 Conductor - 22 Gauge – Sheathed Wire  Source: Wire: Sayal  Source: Connectors: Digi-Key

Wire Labels  Most IMPORTANT Electrical Job  Label every wire at both ends  At every disconnect (again at both ends)  Give every motor a number  Usually numbered from bottom up  Motor’s speed controller is given the same number  Label all power wires 1, 2, 3, etc  Any motors wired BACKWARDS marked 1R, 2R, 3R, etc  Label PWM cables P1, P2, etc  Book of labels – Gardner Bender  Source: Sayal

Wire  Stranded – highest strand count you can afford  Automotive speaker wire is awesome, but expensive  6 Gauge: 6ft  12 Gauge: 50ft  18 Gauge: 50ft  BOTH RED AND BLACK  Source: Sayal

Wire Management  Sticky Feet  Wire Looms  Zip Ties  Source: Sayal  Cable Track  CUT WIRES TO EXACT LENGTHS  Cut long, crimp one end, run wire, tie down, cut + crimp

Driver Controllers  Logitech Dual Action  Discontinued?  Logitech F310  Watch the SWITCH  On the back  XBox controllers  Are terrible

Driveability Algorithm  Complaint #1  Our robot drive control feels really sensitive  Easy Solution: Cubic Transfer Function

Encoders – Relative Rotation  What do they do?  Which one:  Grayhill 63R series  Source: Digikey  Hard to mount  Surgical Tubing!  Expensive

Encoders – Relative Rotation  Which one:  US Digital E4P  Source:  AndyMark  Easy to mount  Free!  Pinch 4 flaps on silver disk before installing  USE THE SPACER TOOL  Do not disconnect the wire… ever

Potentiometers – Absolute Rotation  What do they do?  Which one:  Bourns 6639  Source: Digikey  Continuous Rotation  1-Turn  Dead Zone

Potentiometers – Absolute Rotation  What do they do?  Which one:  Bourns 3590S  Source: Digikey  10-Turn

Switches  Avoid

Sensors  Gyro: Kit  No complaints!  Free!  Ultrasonic  Measures distance to wall, pole, robot, etc  LV-MaxSonar-EZ  Source: MaxBotix

PID Implementations  What is PID?  Arm presets  Implement Through Code  Implement Through Jaguar’s Built-In PID

Play Time  Run and Inspect the Robot  Code is available at:   Questions?