Blinking communications and robot code on driver station

[deborah_at_frui]

We finally got the bridge and the router working but now when we go to the driver station the communications and the robot code blink from green to red frequently while Watchdog not fed is listed below.  Any ideas?

[NI-Bob]

Hello Deborah,

Is there anything out of the ordinary on the actual robot when you are seeing this behavior?  Do any of the LEDs on the robot appear to change?  The reason I ask is because if you are not using a fully charged battery and it is right at the edge of a viable voltage you could see parts of the robot turn on and off (possibly the cRIO).  If there is a disconnect in the network communication between the Driver Station and the Robot the System Watchdog will occasionally not be fed and could explain why you are seeing the errors that you are seeing.

It is possible that there is something else going on here but that is my first guess.  Please make sure to post back here with any updates or further questions.  If you are still seeing the issue, can you post some screenshots of what you are seeing in the Driver Station?

I hope this helps!

Thanks!

Bob H

NI FIRST Support

[deborah_at_frui]

Well I tethered the computer to the robot and I got all solid green communications and robot code but now the joysticks aren't moving the motors anymore.

This is getting incredibly frustrating!  I will call in at 1 to see if I can get some help.

Here's what has happened so far;

1.  We assembled everything and tethered the laptop (driver station) to the cRio and the joysticks worked perfectly - no camera - we haven't gotten that far yet.

2.  Then we disconnected the tether and set up the router and bridge.  We had a ton of trouble with that but our computer person at school helped out today and we finally got the 2 to communicate with each other.

3.  When I opened the driver station though all the lights eventually went to green but the voltage reading flickered from ------ to 0000 and then the lights went to red (except the stop button) and the joysticks didn't do anything.

4.  I decided to re-check the tether and see if it was still working so I plugged it back in and all the lights went to green but still the joysticks were not working.

That's were I am now.

I will take any advice that you can give!!!!!

[NI-Bob]

Hello Deborah,

This sounds very much like a battery issue to me.  I ran into relatively the same behavior yesterday (intermittent communication, Motors not moving when the joystick is pressed, etc).  If the voltage is reading 0000 that means that you are missing a little black jumper on your analog bumper (in Chapter 2 page 35 of the Control Systems Manual it has a picture of the needed jumper, and in Chapter 3 page 12 of the Control Systems Manual contains specific information about installing the jumper).  This jumper is actually required for Competitions so you might as well make sure you have it now.

If you have a fully charged battery and are still seeing these issues feel free to post here as there are a few other things we can try.  Also, we will have the typical phone support from 1pm to 7pm Central.  I hope this helps!

Thanks!

Bob H

NI FIRST Support

[jjauss]

This is the same problem we are having - with a fully charged battery at 12.1V, we are receiving intermittent communications and robot code signals - both will signal green for a period of time, then turn red, with the joysticks and robot being non-responsive, and then returning to control seconds later - we received the same watchdog not fed error, but it does not seem to be in phase with the communications and robot code signal errors.  We are concerned that running the driver station program will cause us to have intermittent control of the robot - any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Team 1182

[NI-Bob]

Hello jjauss,

Are you seeing these issues when using the Intel Classmate or are you using another computer running the Driver Station application?  I am planning to discuss this issue with our R&D team but I want to double check to see if you are seeing this when running in the same environment as a typical competition.

If there is any more specific information that you can provide to us please make sure to let us know.  If you are running on another computer it would be good to get hardware specifics on that computer.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!
Bob H

NI FIRST Support

[jjauss]

Bob:

We rarely see the problem when using the Intel Classmate; however, when using 6 other laptops, all new HP laptops, we receive the intermittent problem.  I thought it could be a CPU issue, since the Classmate runs only the driver station and dedicates most of its processing to it.  We have yet to fix the lack of camera input appearing on the dashboard, though, on the Classmate.  Live camera readings appear on all 6 laptops, where it does not on the Classmate.  We will attempt to reinstall the driver station update on the Classmate tomorrow to try and rectify this issue.

It appears as if the bridge and router are connected fine during this issue - we can direct IP connect to both almost immediately through the laptop, but when we run the driver station, the intermittent issue persists.  Hopefully this helps!

Thanks again for your time -

Team 1182