Power, the control system, and legal wiring.
The Electrical & Wiring branch covers the complete FRC control system power chain: the 12V SLA battery, the 120A main breaker, the power distribution device (REV PDH, CTRE PDP/PDP 2.0, or AndyMark PD), the roboRIO controller, the Vivid-Hosting VH-109 radio, motor controllers, and the wires and connectors that tie it all together. You will learn how to read the legal wiring rules from the FRC Game Manual, pick the right wire gauge for a given current, and crimp connections that survive a full competition season. Mastering this branch is the difference between a robot that drives flawlessly and one that browns out on the field.
nobody reads these in order, that is fine
modules
8
lessons
35
reading time
14hours
mastered
0per cent
reading is free, no account needed
the path
Before you crimp a single connector on an FRC robot, you need a mental model of how electricity actually behaves. This prerequisite primer builds that model from the ground up: what voltage, current, and resistance really are; how Ohm's Law and electrical power tie them together; how series and parallel wiring change the math; and the wire-gauge, fuse, and safety rules that keep a 12V robot battery from becoming a hazard. Every concept is connected back to the real FRC control system so the theory sticks.
Before you strip a single wire, you need to know the players. This module introduces every major component in the FRC electronics stack, what each one does, and how they connect.
This module follows electricity from the battery through the main breaker to the branch circuits, and teaches how circuit protection keeps the robot safe and legal.
Motor controllers turn the roboRIO's commands into raw motor power. This module covers the major controllers, the difference between PWM and CAN, and how to build a reliable CAN bus.
Reliable robots come from reliable connections and clean compliance with the rules. This module covers crimping, the legal wiring rules, full robot assembly, and field troubleshooting.
Stop reading and start building. This module walks you through concrete, buildable wiring jobs and codeable controls examples end to end: a fully-wired single-motor test stand, a current-limited drivetrain, a power-monitoring dashboard, a switchable-channel project on the REV PDH, and a CAN-device bring-up. Every step uses real part numbers, real gauges, and real WPILib/vendor code that compiles. Do these on the bench before you do them under competition pressure.
Most robots that die on the field die for boring, preventable electrical reasons: a loose CAN wire, a battery that sagged, a tinned wire backing out of a WAGO, a brownout from uncapped current. This module is a field guide to the real failures FRC electrical teams hit, with a repeatable debugging workflow, the LED-and-Driver-Station signals that point you at the cause, and the specific fixes. Learn to read your robot's symptoms instead of guessing.
Once the basics work, the margin is in the details: a power budget that survives a full event, a CAN architecture that does not saturate, batteries managed like a fleet, and current limits tuned per mechanism. This module digs into advanced electrical and power-management techniques and walks through real, worked case studies: a four-Kraken swerve power budget, a CANivore CAN FD migration, and a battery-management program, so a competitive team can build a robot that performs in match 1 and in eliminations on a tired battery.
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Log in to contribute a lesson8 modules and 35 lessons, free to read without an account, written against the real Game Manual and the WPILib docs. Sign in when you want the ticks to stick and the certificate at the end.