Electrical Components and their Functions

A brief overview of electrical components used on FRC robots, and links to where they are discussed in more detail

• Power Distribution: (Power Distribution for more details)

  • PDH - distributes power from battery out 20 high-current 40A 12V channels

  • MPM - distributes power from one high current channel out 6 low current ~10A 12V channels

  • VRM - distributes power from one low current channel out varying voltage channels. For example, we use this to power LED strips which use 5V.

• Motors: (Motors)

  • Kraken X60 - high power motor that we use for just about all of our motor needs (utilizes built in TalonFX motor controller. CTRE, Phoenix Tuner X client)

  • Kraken X44 - brand new, smaller version of the kraken. Lower power, lower weight. (utilizes built in TalonFX motor controller. CTRE, Phoenix Tuner X client)

  • Falcon - older, VEX brand motor which are often used interchangeably with Krakens. We do not use them due to their tendency to break. (utilizes built in TalonFX motor controller. CTRE, Phoenix Tuner X client)

  • Neo - older, Rev brand motor which does not have a built in motor controller. These are still used by many teams since they are cheaper, but have many drawbacks, especially since they require external motor controllers such as the Spark Max. (Rev hardware client)

  • Servos - class of small motors which can be used for fine movements. (depends)

  • Neo Vortex - newer, smaller, version of the Neo with built in motor controller. (Rev hardware client)

  • Neo 550 - older, smaller version of Neo. (Rev hardware client)

  • External motor controllers

    • Spark Max for Rev motors

    • Spark Flex (newer spark max) for Rev motors