ΒΆ Design: Other Misc Hardware
The tackle sensor is acquired through the Collegiate Robotic Football Conference and is standardized across all of the robots. Please reach out to the conference to obtain these. The tackle sensor module is a subsystem designed to detect if an upsetting event or tackle has occurred during gameplay, and the current version of the tackle sensor is depicted in the image below. This sensor is required to be rigidly mounted to the HDPE baseplate in a robot. The tackle sensor is pre-programmed and should not be reprogrammed by the teams unless directed to by the conference. The tackle sensor has a variety of features that are outlined in the Tackle Sensor User Manual that can be found on the Collegiate Robotic Football GitHub page. It is recommended to review the user manual document when designing new robots as the information provided in this startup guide does not go into as much detail.
CRFC Tackle Sensor V4
This design utilizes the default settings of the tackle sensor. The 12V power is provided to the power supply input of the tackle sensor with a 2 POS JST CONNECTOR and appropriate Socket Contacts. Please note that the voltage input for the tackle sensor has a wide range, and this design utilizes the 12V since that is conveniently available with the power system that is set up. The LEDs are connected to the tackle sensor with a 4 POS JST CONNECTOR and appropriate Socket Contacts. The LED output is compatible with 12V common anode LED strips regardless of the input voltage provided. Detailed connector pinouts are available in the user manual, but for quick reference, pin names are provided on the back side of the tackle sensor.
There are configuration switches on the front of the tackle sensor that can be used to set the robot to either home or away or to eligible or ineligible receivers. Alternatively, the 6 position connector can be used to override the home or away or eligible or ineligible states as well as to configure the home team color. Details on this can be found in the user manual. This is not required for a basic robot, but might be a nice feature to implement in the future if you want to have flexibility on which robots play which position without having to sub them out of the game.