cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

Hello! I've been looking at the new cRIO for 2015 (https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-30419) and it seems to me (according to the picture) that the Digital Sidecar and the cRIO are now combined. Is this true? Thanks!

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

Yes, the digital sidecar and the cRIO are now combined. I am surprised however that the roboRIO only has 4 analog ports. Can someone elaborate on that?

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

Yes this is true. At the Waterford district competition, I was able to see a test robot that 1718 made for the 2015 control system. I believe there's also a new PD board, and an extra smaller board for pneumatic solenoids.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

There's an expansion port that provides more inputs if they're needed.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

Yes, but as I understand it (Bomb Squad showed a test robot at midwest), the expansion port can't be used for analog ins. The guy started talking about how you could use I2C or USB for that, and I got confused.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

That's interesting. I honestly thought we could use it for analog ins. This could be troublesome.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

Sorry for the misunderstanding. It was pretty noisy where we were talking. There are a total of eight analog inputs. Four of them are immediately accessible with four more on the expansion port.

Thanks to everyone sho stopped by and let us know your questions.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

A new RoboRIO board will cost less than $450 to purchase. That's fantastic.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

True, but it will be available to all teams in the 2015 KOP anyways.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

Any truth to the talk that you can get the new RobotRIO in the fall, and then it will not be in the KOPs. If yes, how is that controlled cost-wise.

Also does anyone know how the software framework will change to support the new hardware?

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

None. Every team gets one in the 2015 KOP.

Java is based on JavaSE instead of JavaME. WPILib will substantially be the same, but will obviously change to handle changes in controllers.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

I wouldn't trust anything you hear about pricing or availability unless it comes from NI or FIRST.

Java and C++ will use Eclipse. Libraries will stay much the same.
Check out the thread titled CRIOIII. It answers a lot of questions.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

The FAQ in OP's link gives the price:

I, personally, am scared to see how many teams will decide to plug the RoboRIO into the old PDB. It has the same connector as the FRC CRIO II, however it takes 12v instead of 24v. Old PDB+RoboRIO = Death.

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

The connectors on the PD board are not the same, the connectors on the Rio are however. The current PD board has a 4-pin Combicon connector for cRIO power, while the 8-slot also uses the same 4-pin connector, the 4-slot uses a 2-pin Combicon connecor.

The new system uses a Wieldmuller push-in type connector on the PD Panel for cRIO power(and for CAN for that matter). This connector is built-in and simply allows you to insert stripped wire. A spring contact hold the wire in place.

The RoboRio still has the same 2-pin Combicon connector as the current 4-slot cRIOII for power.

While it is still possible to connect any voltage source to the RoboRio, including but not limited to the old PD board, it would be hard for teams to do this by mistake. If they do do this, it will not be because they were following any official instructions.

Hope this helps,
Kevin

Re: cRIO 2015 : NI roboRIO
 

The RoboRIO uses the same 2-pin connector as the 4-slot cRIO on the RIO side. It uses the Wiedmuller wire-to-board connector on the PD side.