Joysticks

[Reggie335]

Hey is there anyway to see if there is something wrong with my joysticks.

[Ether]

Hey is there anyway to see if there is something wrong with my joysticks.

More info needed to provide a useful answer.

[Reggie335]

my program is working perfectly but when i am in my FRC Drivers Station and i go Diagnostics i see that my Joysticks aren't blinking when i move them; they only blink when i press the joystick buttons that's it

[Jefferson]

That is the expected behavior.

[TFleig78]

In Windows, you can go to "Set Up USB Game Controllers" to see if they are working.

[cvessalico]

We are also experiencing our joysticks randomly drop out. This was happening a lot last year during our regional. We switched to a different joystick this year, an xbox usb controller without led lights. It seemed to be working fine all weekend in NYC then in the semifinals it happened again (of course perfect timing:ahh: It was strange because this time only one joystick dropped out (the xbox one) the other joystick, a logitech gamepad, remained functional. Anyone know why this might be happening? And what can we do to avoid this at our next regional.

[nighterfighter]

my program is working perfectly but when i am in my FRC Drivers Station and i go Diagnostics i see that my Joysticks aren't blinking when i move them; they only blink when i press the joystick buttons that's it

As stated above, that is normal.

Have you actually tried testing them with the robot enabled?

My guess is you'll be happily surprised with the results. :D

[z_beeblebrox]

We are also experiencing our joysticks randomly drop out. This was happening a lot last year during our regional. We switched to a different joystick this year, an xbox usb controller without led lights. It seemed to be working fine all weekend in NYC then in the semifinals it happened again (of course perfect timing:ahh: It was strange because this time only one joystick dropped out (the xbox one) the other joystick, a logitech gamepad, remained functional. Anyone know why this might be happening? And what can we do to avoid this at our next regional.

Press F1 to rescan joysticks.

[nighterfighter]

Press F1 to rescan joysticks.

Isn't F1 also the ENABLE hotkey?

[cvessalico]

Press F1 to rescan joysticks.
We'll try that but.... Has anyone else experienced this and if so how can we fix it so the joysticks never drop out!!

[MamaSpoldi]

Are the joysticks plugged into a USB hub or directly into the USB ports on the driver station? We had a similar issue twice in the past and both times it was related to the USB hub that we were using. Once it was that the devices were not getting sufficient power from the single USB port to support them both. The second time it was the USB hub that had its own signal continuity issues; these problems disappeared when that hub was replaced. In both cases the signals to the joysticks were dropping out sometimes momentarily and sometimes persistently. We have since eliminated the hub from our driver station (since we have only 2 USB devices and no longer need the external e-stop button) and have had no issues like that since.

[Reggie335]

can anyone help

[z_beeblebrox]

can anyone help

With...

[Joe Ross]

We are also experiencing our joysticks randomly drop out. This was happening a lot last year during our regional. We switched to a different joystick this year, an xbox usb controller without led lights. It seemed to be working fine all weekend in NYC then in the semifinals it happened again (of course perfect timing:ahh: It was strange because this time only one joystick dropped out (the xbox one) the other joystick, a logitech gamepad, remained functional. Anyone know why this might be happening? And what can we do to avoid this at our next regional.

Some laptops disable or limit the power draw from USB ports on battery power, or when battery is below a certain level. You may be able to disable this behavior. I've also seen weird results when using some USB hubs.

Make sure you always check the joysticks before the beginning of the match.

[Reggie335]

thanks i really needed to know that :)

[Jefferson]

can anyone help

You have not described any unexpected/unwanted behavior so far.

my program is working perfectly
Great news! No problem here.

when i am in my FRC Drivers Station and i go Diagnostics i see that my Joysticks aren't blinking when i move them; they only blink when i press the joystick buttons that's it
Still good news. This is the correct behavior.

You have a number of very knowledgeable people on this thread who are willing to help, but you will have to describe the issue better if you are having one.

[Reggie335]

And how can i go to Windows, and go to "Set Up USB Game Controllers"

[Joe Ross]

Isn't F1 also the ENABLE hotkey?

Yes, but it only enables when you are not connected to FMS. Therefore, on the field, you can check your joysticks before the match, and press F1 if they are not connected. You can also press F1 during a match if you discover it during the match (or a joystick gets accidentally disconnected). There are more details in the FMS whitepaper. http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedFiles/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Game_and_Season__Info/2013/FMSWhitePaper_RevA.pdf

[nighterfighter]

Yes, but it only enables when you are not connected to FMS. Therefore, on the field, you can check your joysticks before the match, and press F1 if they are not connected. You can also press F1 during a match if you discover it during the match (or a joystick gets accidentally disconnected). There are more details in the FMS whitepaper. http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedFiles/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Game_and_Season__Info/2013/FMSWhitePaper_RevA.pdf

Ah, great information, thanks.

I just know the two hotkeys we use...

Enable (F1) and Stop (Enter).

Spacebar reserved for fires. :p

[cvessalico]

Thanks for the input everyone. Although we are not using a usb hub, I do think it is a power issue with the laptop . We will make sure to keep the battery fully charged at all times and hopefully this will solve the problem. If someone knows a specific setting we could change like a power setting in windows or something that would guarantee we don't lose the joysticks that would be awesome. We are using a sony viao laptop, programming with labview, using a Logitech gamepad and an Xbox gamepad.

[nighterfighter]

Thanks for the input everyone. Although we are not using a usb hub, I do think it is a power issue with the laptop . We will make sure to keep the battery fully charged at all times and hopefully this will solve the problem. If someone knows a specific setting we could change like a power setting in windows or something that would guarantee we don't lose the joysticks that would be awesome. We are using a sony viao laptop, programming with labview, using a Logitech gamepad and an Xbox gamepad.

One Windows setting you can change would be the power options:

Go to the battery icon (next to the time), click it, and press "More Power Options"

You can either use high performance mode, or create a custom power plan, and specify to never disable power to the USB ports, among other settings.