Yes to everything now. We originally did not have the digital sidecar wired but do now. It doesn't see to have changed anything... :( our talons are LEDs are blinking fast. One is blinking orange and one is alternating orange/red. We've attempted to recall rated but it didn't respond. If the robot is not responding to joysticks (although we can see the cRIO. recognizes them via test mode) - can it still calibrate?

More ideas please!! :)

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

The Talon and other speed controllers must receive PWM signals in order for calibration to work as intended.

The orange blink means that the controller isn't receiving a PWM signal.

Can you enable the robot? When it is enabled, if the Talons continue to blink orange, it means an electrical wiring problem or wiring that doesn't match code is the most likely issue.

Again, I'd probably enable the robot in test mode, scroll down the test tab and review the channel numbers for each motor. Run the motors individually as you verify that PWM wiring matches what was opened in the code. If most of the PWMs do not work or work unreliably, you may want to verify that the cable between the digital module and digital breakout board is properly seated and working properly. There were cables in the kit last year I believe that had a reversed connector. Also verify that the blue breakout has its own power connected and its LEDs are bright. The PWM current is sufficient to drive a few motors, but cannot supply more than three at the same time.

Greg McKaskle

We definitely have lights on the digital sidecar at this point.
We can enable the robot but how do we run motors? Is it a function of the test view? And if so, do we need to make separate portions of code?

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

There is a PDP on board? There's your problem :D

On a more serious note, Mark meant the PDB, Power Distribution Board

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

Page three of this tutorial -- https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-26314 -- may help out.

The short answer is that if you open a resource in your code and register it by name, it will show up. If you select an actuator value in the table, a control will display allowing you to modify the value. Motors are somewhat dangerous, so they utilize a momentary enable button. This means, you select, then set the desired speed, then click and hold the enable button for as long as you want the motor controller to be sent that value. Other actuators don't require the enable button.

If this doesn't work, please describe what it does do to the LEDs, etc. And don't forget to enable the robot on the driver station.

Greg McKaskle

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

Okay, still no movement from the joysticks... :(
We're starting to worry that we've missed something really basic. We've been reading/watching various tutorials but haven't stumbled across any solutions yet.

Following everything we're reading about the test function and no response.

- Are we correct that we can pull up default code, input our IP address, change jaguars to talons and download? Or is there something else critical that needs to happen?

- All updates are installed on the computer

- The cRIO is now imaged

- The talons are still fast blinking orange on one and red/orange alternating fast blinks on the other. We attempted to calibrate and didn't observe any change (it didn't give the red error or green success, just kept with the fast blinking).

- The test mode lets us see that it is measuring joystick movement, just the robot doesn't respond...

Again, thanks so much for any advice and input!

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

Greetings,
We ran into this same problem last night. Try flipping your PWM's in your controller. Your issues may not be in code, but physical. If the PWMs are in backward you will be the symptoms you are describing

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

That suggests a power or wiring problem. Alternating red and orange is not normal behavior for a Talon.

Can you tell us exactly what is connected to your Digital Sidecar, and where each wire from it goes? Photographs of your wiring would be useful, including the LEDs if possible.

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

The [url=http://www.crosstheroadelectronics.com/Talon.html]Talon User Manual[/url shows that red/orange is a fault.

The fault is likely internal to the Talon, or it could have been induced by miswiring. I would disconnect that Talon, at least until you get your issues resolved with the other Talon.

Update. In an effort to determine if the issue was the talon, we swapped the talons for jags. The jag LEDs were orange and blinking slowly. We changed the code from talons to jaguars, downloaded, enabled the robot in teleoperated and the motors "twitched" then stopped responding entirely, we tried test mode and disabling/enabling powering off/powering on and then our LEDs on the jags went off entirely. At that point our battery was low and it was time to leave for the day...
Next plan is try everything as is with a fully charged battery but ...
Suggestions after that?
Attached is the picture of current wiring. It's messy still and we're working on cleaning it up, but hopefully you can follow the wires. Attachment 15504

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

Where did you get your (what look to be) all black PWM cables?
Did you purchase them or make them yourself?
I can't see how they are marked to identify which of the three wires is the signal, and which is the ground wire. Getting those mixed up as wilsonmw04 suggested will of course prevent the Jags from getting the command signal.

If the Jags have an orange blinking light (after your battery is recharged), then the power to the jags is fine, and the trouble is likely in the chain of command.

• Code must Open PWM 1 and PWM 2 (this will be proven just by PWM1 and PWM 2 showing up in test mode) Make sure they are not Opened more than once.
• The Driver Station must be Enabled of course
• The 37-pin ribbon cable from the cRIO module to the Digital Sidecar must be secure and correct. Sometimes a potential source of trouble.
• The Digital Sidecar must be receiving 12v power from the Power Distribution Board and the three green power lights on the Sidecar must be bright green (it appears to be so wired from the photo)
• You can test the Sidecar PWM pins with a multimeter to see that the outer two are providing a signal. Neutral will give a reading of ~1.5v, and full power in test mode will read about 2.3v on a multimeter.
• The PWM cable must be correctly oriented to get the command signal from the Sidecar to the correct Jag pin. Signal pin is towards the side edge of the Jag. At the Sidecar the Signal pin is the inside pin.
• The PWM cable could be faulty. You can test the Jag end of the PWM cable with a multimeter to be sure the outer two pins are providing some signal. Same voltages as before.

Thanks! This gives us some things to test! We'll see if we can find the issue... PWM cables are AndyMark, there's an all black outer casing but the very ends have the black, white, red exposed but we'll double check those and measure voltages... Thank you!

Re: Reimaging the cRIO - Help!
 

I'm willing to do a Skype session, sometimes seeing and interactive is the quickest way to get things going. I just saw this now, so if you are still having trouble and want to try this, PM me...

Good luck!