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Electrical Team Documentation

What does electrical do?​

The Electrical subteam is responsible for building and maintaining the electrical board (e-board) and its components. The e-board is what Team 2554 calls the entire computer that manages the robot. The electrical team is the bridge between programming and mechanical.

Preparing for the electrical test?​

To prepare for the electrical test, make sure to know the purpose of each of the parts of the e-board (detailed throughout this guide). It is crucial that you know what all these components do and how they are properly wired. Pay attention to many of the details, as it is important for you to know these by the back of your hand.

Some elements of the Mechanical documentation may also be helpful in order for you to understand how the electrical components fit into the robot. For example, the Drivetrain documentation discusses different types of drivetrains, in which the motor configuration is important.

Pay special attention to:​

  • Wire gauges
  • Voltages and amperes inputted and outputted by components (if applicable)
  • Input and output signal types (search up any signal types you are unfamiliar with)
    • ex: PWM, analog, DC, CAN
  • What a component must be wired to and what connects to it (wiring layout)
  • Connectors on components
    • Power wires have different connectors that can be used so if it looks like it is attached by the team, then don’t worry about it. If it is commercial like PWM wires, USB, ethernet, etc., then DO worry about it
  • The purpose of each component
    • Know the specifications about the components as well, since there may be questions about those
  • Pneumatics and the different parts involved with it

What you don't need to worry about​

  • Proper connecting techniques like stripping wires, shrink wrapping, inserting wires securely into the PDP, etc. We will teach this to you ourselves in person
  • The laws of electronics or small individual pieces like resistors and capacitors, just focus on the FRC provided parts

Special Notes:​

  • Jaguar motor controllers are being phased out - don't bother learning them
  • SD540's aren't important
  • DMC 60’s aren’t important
  • The OpenMesh radio is honestly just a wi-fi router. Read about it thoroughly but this info probably clears things up a bit
  • There will be fill in the blank and short answers, you may not be able to guess
  • Some questions will ask to see how you would respond to certain scenarios.
    • For example, if the radio is on but it still can not communicate with the Roborio, what would you do?
  • We are implementing Talon SRXs to this year’s EBoard again. We are using a wiring method known as Daisy Chaining to connect all of these Talon SRXs together. Make sure you know how they work! (more details about daisy chaining in the next few pages)

Resources​