Electrical
The electrical system powers and connects every component on the robot — from the battery and power distribution to the motors, controllers, sensors, and radio. The pages in this section cover each part of that system: what it is, how it connects, and how we use it.
Electrical
The electrical system powers and connects every component on the robot — from the battery and power distribution to the motors, controllers, sensors, and radio. The pages in this section cover each part of that system: what it is, how it connects, and how we use it.
Core Technologies
Every FRC robot runs on three fundamental technologies: DC power to power things, CAN bus to control them, and Ethernet to talk to the field. This page gives you a plain-English foundation for each one.
Wire Requirements
Wire Sizes
Management Devices
Cable management devices are used to bundle, route, protect, and secure wires throughout the robot. They range from simple zip ties that fasten individual wires to structural members, to specialized products like cable chain that allow wires to survive thousands of cycles of repeated motion. Choosing the right device for a given location depends on whether the wires are stationary or moving, whether they are exposed to abrasion or mechanical contact, and how much flexibility or structure the run requires.
Electrical Connectors
This page is a reference for all electrical connectors used on our robots. It covers specifications, crimping tools, installation procedures, and common use cases.
Power Distribution
Power distribution devices receive power from the robot battery and distribute it to motors, controllers, and other devices throughout the robot. Each output is individually fused, providing overcurrent protection for downstream devices.
Robot Controllers
Robot controllers are the central compute platforms on an FRC robot. The primary robot controller runs the main robot program, communicates with the Driver Station, and coordinates all actuators and sensors over CAN and other buses.
Radio
The robot radio is the wireless bridge between the robot and the Driver Station. It connects to the roboRIO over Ethernet, receives commands from the Driver Station laptop over Wi-Fi, and relays robot telemetry back. At competition, the field-provided FMS configures the radio and manages the wireless channel — teams do not control this directly.
Motor Controllers
A motor controller sits between your robot's battery and a motor. It takes a command from the robot controller (like "spin at 75% power") and converts it into the right voltage and current to actually move the motor. Without it, you'd have no way to control speed, direction, or how hard the motor pushes.
Motors
All motors used on our robot are brushless — they have no brushes or commutator to wear out, and require a compatible brushless motor controller to run. The controller handles commutation electronically using the motor's built-in encoder.
Sensors
Sensors give the robot information about the world around it and its own state. This page covers how each sensor connects to the robot electrically — software configuration is covered separately.