Table of Contents
Troubleshooting
Skilled Level
Recommended for all students who will work with the electrical system.
• Demonstrate safe robot shutdown before inspecting or repairing wiring.
• Use a multimeter to measure:
• Battery voltage
• Continuity of a wire
• Voltage at a motor controller input/output
• Identify common wiring issues (loose connections, poor crimps, frayed wires).
• Check correct wiring to the main breaker, PDH/PDP, RoboRIO, VRM, motor controllers.
• Perform a visual inspection of the electrical system and recognize missing/loose connections.
• Diagnose and replace a faulty fuse or breaker.
Independent Level
For students who will actively maintain and debug the robot during build and competition.
• Have completed Basic Troubleshooting.
• Assist a teammate in completing at least one Basic troubleshooting task.
• Demonstrate how to identify and fix:
• Reversed polarity connections
• CAN bus breaks (e.g., single point failure, missing termination, incorrect daisy-chain)
• Loose crimps or lugs on high-current connections
• Use a multimeter to verify proper power distribution across the PDH/PDP.
• Test and identify a bad battery using both voltage and load testing.
• Diagnose and correct radio or RoboRIO power issues.
• Demonstrate ability to follow a troubleshooting flowchart or checklist systematically.
• Perform a brownout diagnosis (robot resets, voltage dips under load).
Leader Level
For electrical leads and pit crew members responsible for competition-level reliability.
• Have completed Advanced Troubleshooting.
• Assist another student in completing at least one Advanced troubleshooting requirement.
• Lead the team in diagnosing a competition-critical electrical failure (e.g., robot won’t enable, intermittent CAN dropouts).
• Train others to use a multimeter, battery beak, or load tester effectively.
• Create and maintain a team troubleshooting guide/checklist for electrical systems.
• Demonstrate ability to identify and fix intermittent faults (loose CAN wiring, radio resets, poor grounding).
• Lead a pit-side rapid response drill: robot won’t turn on, CAN bus fails, brownout occurs.
• Communicate troubleshooting steps clearly to drive team and programming team, ensuring cross-team collaboration.
• Supervise and ensure the robot passes electrical re-inspection after repairs at competition.
