Mr. Lim
04-01-2015, 00:09
Today we did our Quick Build session in Toronto at Crescent School immediately following our remote Kick-Off at the Science Centre. Here are the notable observations I had from the installation of this year's software tools. They are Java-centric as our team, and a large number of those attending wanted to use Java. They are also geared towards the Rookie experience, as that was the main audience of our Quick Build. They also assume you have a separate (non-Classmate) laptop being used for programming, and the Classmate used primarily as a Driver Station. We strongly recommend this setup to our Rookies. These are kind of abbreviated "Coles Notes" for anyone running a Quick Build, or who is experienced and wants to get up and running quickly. It also has some notes on the most common problems we ran in to.
Preparing the Classmate:
- If your Classmate boots up with a working Windows installation out of the box, don't bother reimaging it
- There is no FRC software on the USB supplied image, so don't expect to have a working development, tools or driver station after immediately re-imaging the Classmate - it's basically only needed if you brick your Classmate, or it came without a working OS
- Some Classmates came wiped with no working OS and had to be imaged
- Some kits had image USB keys that were empty or had corrupted images - images can be downloaded here if you were one of these lucky teams with a wiped Classmate AND a bad USB:
http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/4485/m/24192/l/144974-imaging-your-classmate-veteran-rookie-image-download
- If you need to re-image your Classmate because it came wiped, or the OS is not working, insert the USB while the computer is off, press F11 immediately after powering on, select "USB HDD", and follow the instructions on-screen
- Once you have a working Windows OS on the Classmate, you still need to install the FRC Tools and Driver Station (aka FRC 2015 Update Suite) which can be found here:
http://www.ni.com/download/first-robotics-software-2015/5112/en/
- Reboot the Classmate
- This should be enough to get your Classmate working as a Driver Station, and will also do some basic tasks like: Image your RoboRIO and Deploy Java Runtime to the RoboRIO (if you will be programming in Java)
- This won't get you any actual development tools yet - if you want them read the next section and do them to the Classmate - I don't recommend you use the Classmate for actual development, but I do recommend you install the development tools in case of an emergency - the Classmate CAN act as a programming computer too, but I highly recommend you don't use it as your primary programming computer - Keep the Classmate as a pure Driver Station-only device as much as possible
- At this stage you will want to run the Driver Station application, click through the tabs to familiarize yourself with the different screens
- Set your Team Number on the settings page
- Connect the Logitech joystick and XBox 360 controller and make sure they show up on the USB tab - verify all joysticks and buttons work by watching the indicators change
Preparing your Development Computer (Java-centric):
- Remove any old NI software from prior years
- Install the FRC Tools and Driver Station (aka FRC 2015 Update Suite) which can be found here:
http://www.ni.com/download/first-robotics-software-2015/5112/en/
- If you are installing the Tools on a Win 8 machine, you may need to enable an older .NET framework here at the bottom:
http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/4485/m/13809/l/144150-installing-the-frc-2015-update-suite-all-languages
- Reboot the computer
- You can test to see if the Driver Station works. We noticed a lot of Driver Stations are freezing after start up. About half the non-Classmate computers we installed them on freeze and can't quit. We haven't figured out why, or a fix yet.
- Download (but don't install anything yet!) the Java 8 Development Kit (JDK), select 32-bit or 64-bit depending on what Windows version you have installed, the Demos and Samples are NOT necessary:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
- Download (but don't install anything yet!) Eclipse, select 32-bit or 64-bit depending on what Windows version you have installed - it should also match the version of Java you downloaded:
https://eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-developers/lunasr1
- Install Java, Eclipse and Plugins by CAREFULLY following the instructions here:
http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/4485/m/13809/l/145002-installing-eclipse-c-java
- Verify your Java, Eclipse and Plugins are working by creating a new sample robot project in Eclipse
- Open Eclipse, and click File->New->Other, then scroll to the bottom of the list and see if "WPILib Robot Java Development" is there - if not, you missed setting up the Eclipse Plugins
- If Eclipse won't run at all, you probably have an incorrect Java or Eclipse - probably the wrong 32 or 64 bit version of one or the other, or both
Preparing the Radio:
- Power up your radio and plug an ethernet cable in from your computer to the radio
- Be sure the ethernet network connection on the computer comes up before moving on - on Windows you should wait till the network icon in the bottom right stops spinning the blue circle
- Disable your wireless network adapter so it doesn't interfere
- Run the Bridge Configuration Utility here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2014\project\Bridge Configuration Utility\FRC Bridge Configuration Utility.exe
- Enter your team # and put in a WPA2 key at least 8 characters in length
- Once complete, unplug the ethernet cable, power cycle the radio and verify that the radio is broadcasting a new SSID named after the team #
- If you have issues connecting to the radio in the configuration utility, try changing your computer's IP to 192.168.0.100 subnet 255.255.255.0 and try again
- If that fails, try changing your computer's IP to 10.xx.yy.100 subnet 255.0.0.0 where xx and yy are the digits of your team number xxyy and try again
- Re-enable the wireless network adapter on your computer and disconnect the ethernet cable
- Connect to the new team # wireless network, and verify your WPA2 key is correct, and you can join the network
- Change your computer's IP to 10.xx.yy.100 and ping the radio at 10.xx.yy.1 to ensure everything is working
Preparing the RoboRIO:
- Disable your wireless network so it doesn't interfere
- Connect an ethernet cable directly from the RoboRIO to your computer
- Change your computer's IP back to automatic (DHCP) it should get a 169.254.?.? address after some time
- Run the RoboRIO Imaging Tool here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2014\project\roboRIO Tool\roboRIO_ImagingTool.exe
- Scan to try and detect the RoboRIO
- If it can't find it, try connecting both the RoboRIO and the computer to the radio using an ethernet cable for each (do not use wireless!)
- If you still can't find it, try changing the computer's IP address to 10.xx.yy.100 subnet 255.0.0.0 and try the above steps again
- If you still can't find it, try a different computer - like the Classmate and repeat the steps above from the beginning - we had a few finicky non-Classmates have difficulty finding the RoboRIO
- Once the RoboRIO is found, enter the team number, click format, select the only image file in the box below and start reimaging
- The process takes some time about 5-10 minutes, I would estimate
- If it finishes almost instantaneously, you forgot to click "format" and select an image
- After the imaging is complete you now need to load the Java Runtime on to the RoboRIO (for those programming in Java)
- Re-enable your wireless (so that you have internet access), but keep your computer connected to the RoboRio via an ethernet cable
- Run the Java Runtime installer script here:
C:\Users\<YourUsername>\wpilib\tools\java-installer.jar - where <YourUsername> is the username you logged into your computer with
- This script requires an internet connection to download the Java runtime the first time you run it
- Complete the installation of Java runtime - I estimate it should take 5-10 minutes to complete - we had a few teams have their computers/RoboRIOs stall during this step when they tried to do it wirelessly
- Power cycle the RoboRIO and radio
- Unplug your computer's ethernet from everything
- Plug the RoboRIO ethernet cable into the radio
- Connect to your team # SSID wirelessly
- If all went well you should be able to ping the RoboRIO at 10.xx.yy.20 - note the IP change for the RoboRIO! Yes it is ".20"
Test the Classmate Driver Station
- On the Classmate, join the team # wireless network
- Run the Driver Station application
- Double check that the Team Number is correctly entered in the setup tab
- If all is working well, you should see the Communication light turn green, and Joysticks will turn green if you have any connected
- The Robot Code light should still be red until you actually send your first program to the RoboRIO
Test your Programming Computer
- Connect to the team# wireless network
- Change the computer's IP address to 10.xx.yy.100 subnet 255.0.0.0
- Open Eclipse
- Create a new robot project: File->New->Other, WPILib Robot Java Development->Robot Java Project->Iterative
- Name the project whatever you wish
- Right Click the project name in the "Project Explorer" window on the left -> Run As -> WPILib Java Deploy
- At some point you will be asked for your team # - ensure you enter it correctly as it dictates what IP address it will look for the RoboRIO at
- If you need to check the team #, it is in Windows -> Preferences -> WPILib Preferences
- WPILib Java Deploy will automatically build your code, connect to the RoboRIO, send it and run it - this happens MUCH faster than the old control system so check the console log at the bottom of the screen carefully!
- If you still have your Driver Station running (on your Classmate or elsewhere), you should see the Robot Code light turn green if the deploy was successful
I know this is rehashing some of what the Screensteps have, but I found it a lot more convenient just having the salient steps and potential problems all in one place.
Cheers and good luck everyone!
Preparing the Classmate:
- If your Classmate boots up with a working Windows installation out of the box, don't bother reimaging it
- There is no FRC software on the USB supplied image, so don't expect to have a working development, tools or driver station after immediately re-imaging the Classmate - it's basically only needed if you brick your Classmate, or it came without a working OS
- Some Classmates came wiped with no working OS and had to be imaged
- Some kits had image USB keys that were empty or had corrupted images - images can be downloaded here if you were one of these lucky teams with a wiped Classmate AND a bad USB:
http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/4485/m/24192/l/144974-imaging-your-classmate-veteran-rookie-image-download
- If you need to re-image your Classmate because it came wiped, or the OS is not working, insert the USB while the computer is off, press F11 immediately after powering on, select "USB HDD", and follow the instructions on-screen
- Once you have a working Windows OS on the Classmate, you still need to install the FRC Tools and Driver Station (aka FRC 2015 Update Suite) which can be found here:
http://www.ni.com/download/first-robotics-software-2015/5112/en/
- Reboot the Classmate
- This should be enough to get your Classmate working as a Driver Station, and will also do some basic tasks like: Image your RoboRIO and Deploy Java Runtime to the RoboRIO (if you will be programming in Java)
- This won't get you any actual development tools yet - if you want them read the next section and do them to the Classmate - I don't recommend you use the Classmate for actual development, but I do recommend you install the development tools in case of an emergency - the Classmate CAN act as a programming computer too, but I highly recommend you don't use it as your primary programming computer - Keep the Classmate as a pure Driver Station-only device as much as possible
- At this stage you will want to run the Driver Station application, click through the tabs to familiarize yourself with the different screens
- Set your Team Number on the settings page
- Connect the Logitech joystick and XBox 360 controller and make sure they show up on the USB tab - verify all joysticks and buttons work by watching the indicators change
Preparing your Development Computer (Java-centric):
- Remove any old NI software from prior years
- Install the FRC Tools and Driver Station (aka FRC 2015 Update Suite) which can be found here:
http://www.ni.com/download/first-robotics-software-2015/5112/en/
- If you are installing the Tools on a Win 8 machine, you may need to enable an older .NET framework here at the bottom:
http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/4485/m/13809/l/144150-installing-the-frc-2015-update-suite-all-languages
- Reboot the computer
- You can test to see if the Driver Station works. We noticed a lot of Driver Stations are freezing after start up. About half the non-Classmate computers we installed them on freeze and can't quit. We haven't figured out why, or a fix yet.
- Download (but don't install anything yet!) the Java 8 Development Kit (JDK), select 32-bit or 64-bit depending on what Windows version you have installed, the Demos and Samples are NOT necessary:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
- Download (but don't install anything yet!) Eclipse, select 32-bit or 64-bit depending on what Windows version you have installed - it should also match the version of Java you downloaded:
https://eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-developers/lunasr1
- Install Java, Eclipse and Plugins by CAREFULLY following the instructions here:
http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/4485/m/13809/l/145002-installing-eclipse-c-java
- Verify your Java, Eclipse and Plugins are working by creating a new sample robot project in Eclipse
- Open Eclipse, and click File->New->Other, then scroll to the bottom of the list and see if "WPILib Robot Java Development" is there - if not, you missed setting up the Eclipse Plugins
- If Eclipse won't run at all, you probably have an incorrect Java or Eclipse - probably the wrong 32 or 64 bit version of one or the other, or both
Preparing the Radio:
- Power up your radio and plug an ethernet cable in from your computer to the radio
- Be sure the ethernet network connection on the computer comes up before moving on - on Windows you should wait till the network icon in the bottom right stops spinning the blue circle
- Disable your wireless network adapter so it doesn't interfere
- Run the Bridge Configuration Utility here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2014\project\Bridge Configuration Utility\FRC Bridge Configuration Utility.exe
- Enter your team # and put in a WPA2 key at least 8 characters in length
- Once complete, unplug the ethernet cable, power cycle the radio and verify that the radio is broadcasting a new SSID named after the team #
- If you have issues connecting to the radio in the configuration utility, try changing your computer's IP to 192.168.0.100 subnet 255.255.255.0 and try again
- If that fails, try changing your computer's IP to 10.xx.yy.100 subnet 255.0.0.0 where xx and yy are the digits of your team number xxyy and try again
- Re-enable the wireless network adapter on your computer and disconnect the ethernet cable
- Connect to the new team # wireless network, and verify your WPA2 key is correct, and you can join the network
- Change your computer's IP to 10.xx.yy.100 and ping the radio at 10.xx.yy.1 to ensure everything is working
Preparing the RoboRIO:
- Disable your wireless network so it doesn't interfere
- Connect an ethernet cable directly from the RoboRIO to your computer
- Change your computer's IP back to automatic (DHCP) it should get a 169.254.?.? address after some time
- Run the RoboRIO Imaging Tool here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2014\project\roboRIO Tool\roboRIO_ImagingTool.exe
- Scan to try and detect the RoboRIO
- If it can't find it, try connecting both the RoboRIO and the computer to the radio using an ethernet cable for each (do not use wireless!)
- If you still can't find it, try changing the computer's IP address to 10.xx.yy.100 subnet 255.0.0.0 and try the above steps again
- If you still can't find it, try a different computer - like the Classmate and repeat the steps above from the beginning - we had a few finicky non-Classmates have difficulty finding the RoboRIO
- Once the RoboRIO is found, enter the team number, click format, select the only image file in the box below and start reimaging
- The process takes some time about 5-10 minutes, I would estimate
- If it finishes almost instantaneously, you forgot to click "format" and select an image
- After the imaging is complete you now need to load the Java Runtime on to the RoboRIO (for those programming in Java)
- Re-enable your wireless (so that you have internet access), but keep your computer connected to the RoboRio via an ethernet cable
- Run the Java Runtime installer script here:
C:\Users\<YourUsername>\wpilib\tools\java-installer.jar - where <YourUsername> is the username you logged into your computer with
- This script requires an internet connection to download the Java runtime the first time you run it
- Complete the installation of Java runtime - I estimate it should take 5-10 minutes to complete - we had a few teams have their computers/RoboRIOs stall during this step when they tried to do it wirelessly
- Power cycle the RoboRIO and radio
- Unplug your computer's ethernet from everything
- Plug the RoboRIO ethernet cable into the radio
- Connect to your team # SSID wirelessly
- If all went well you should be able to ping the RoboRIO at 10.xx.yy.20 - note the IP change for the RoboRIO! Yes it is ".20"
Test the Classmate Driver Station
- On the Classmate, join the team # wireless network
- Run the Driver Station application
- Double check that the Team Number is correctly entered in the setup tab
- If all is working well, you should see the Communication light turn green, and Joysticks will turn green if you have any connected
- The Robot Code light should still be red until you actually send your first program to the RoboRIO
Test your Programming Computer
- Connect to the team# wireless network
- Change the computer's IP address to 10.xx.yy.100 subnet 255.0.0.0
- Open Eclipse
- Create a new robot project: File->New->Other, WPILib Robot Java Development->Robot Java Project->Iterative
- Name the project whatever you wish
- Right Click the project name in the "Project Explorer" window on the left -> Run As -> WPILib Java Deploy
- At some point you will be asked for your team # - ensure you enter it correctly as it dictates what IP address it will look for the RoboRIO at
- If you need to check the team #, it is in Windows -> Preferences -> WPILib Preferences
- WPILib Java Deploy will automatically build your code, connect to the RoboRIO, send it and run it - this happens MUCH faster than the old control system so check the console log at the bottom of the screen carefully!
- If you still have your Driver Station running (on your Classmate or elsewhere), you should see the Robot Code light turn green if the deploy was successful
I know this is rehashing some of what the Screensteps have, but I found it a lot more convenient just having the salient steps and potential problems all in one place.
Cheers and good luck everyone!