Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

Another important thing to note is that if you specify a the default gateways as 10.TE.AM.1 it appears that all traffic goes to the fms. This caused for significant delays to be introduced only when we connected to the field as data was being passed from the Rio to the FMS, then from the FMS to the Kangaroo, then from the Kangaroo to the FMS, and finally from the FMS to the Rio. In reality it was probably also going through the Driver Station as the FMS does not connect directly to the robot, but short of doing a traceroute I couldn't tell you definitively.

In reality this traffic should have been able to stay local and should not have been subject to the bandwidth limitations the FMS imposes.

In windows you can leave that gateway empty and be all right. On the rio, it can be configured via the web dashboard and should probably be set to 0.0.0.0 as suggested by the images in the screensteps document you listed.

Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

Thanks for the info, but this shows a flaw in this year's documentation. For some reason I was never able to find that. When I go to the control system page, the only link I get is http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/...rio-networking, which makes no mention of static IPs, nor does it provide a link to the page that you linked. The only options listed on this page is the mDNS option.

Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

Scott,

we had our own problems (added a second camera, but had trouble seeing it on the field).
But as to the Field radio configuration, our own ad-hoc solution was to have two new radios, one for "Field" configuration, one configured for use just as back home for "Pit / Build". We would just switch out the radio in the pit (and use the same test radio on the practice field).

Thanks,
Martin Haeberli
(de-)mentor, FRC 3045 Gear Gremlins (formerly SWAT).
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Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

Please don't use wireless on a second radio at an event.
It is against the rules and has the potential to cause quite a significant problem for the field staff.

There are field provided radios available for use on the practice field. Just ask the FTA.

Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

Parroting what Mark said. PLEASE don't do this. None of us (CSAs, FTA[A]s, Robot Inspectors, etc.) like having to track down rogue wireless access points at events, but we will if we see them. It's against the rules(Mark quoted them already) and has potential to disrupt the game in one form or another.

And no, simply refusing to broadcast the SSID does NOT mean we can't find it ;)

Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

What did you search? I went to http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/4485 and searched for "static IP" and the first result gave me the necessary information.

What would make this information easier for you to find?

Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

I'm sorry - I won't let it happen again.

That said, at our event (Madera / Central Valley Regional), there did not appear to be any WiFi access available for robot control on the practice field.

Thanks,

Martin Haeberli
(de-)mentor, FRC 3045 Gear Gremlins (formerly SWAT)
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Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

That's not uncommon at events. The fields do ship with radios for the practice field, but many events don't pull them out/set them up. This is sometimes due to venue restrictions(i.e. no power available near the practice field). If you absolutely cannot test while tethered, you can ask the FTA about having the practice field radios set up, an he/she will either do so or explain why they can't. If you need a long ethernet cable to tether, you can try talking to other teams.

Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

I didn't search. In my world of systems engineering words like "will" and "shall" are requirements. The document that I linked to has "will"s spread throughout it, and in my ingrained mind I viewed those as requirements on the system. Why would I search when the requirements were so clear?


Was this sarcastic?

The answer is pretty simple. Put a link to it on the roboRIO networking page, along with some words along the lines of "Static IPs are also acceptable for more information see (insert link here)." I would think that all things roboRIO networking should be in or linked from the page named "roboRIO Networking". That's documentation 101.

Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

Not at all. I will admit there is plenty of documentation in FRC that is hard to find and many people do not know about. I have met teams that did not know about screensteps. It is a big problem that I don't know how to solve. I have reviewed the screensteps each year and I have sent in suggestions about improvements in the past. If you have an idea of how to make the system better please post it or send it to FIRST. You can send your suggestion about the static IP documentation using the report error (I know error might be a bit of an exaggeration) at the bottom of the page.

Re: Axis camera IP changes during the game
 

I just saw the page update (http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/...rio-networking) - thanks for that - you guys rock!

The interesting thing about today's back-and-forth between Alex and I perhaps shows a bit of a generational difference (I hate to admit it, but I'm getting old). I have a related story here...

At my position at work I'm responsible for a large software package similar to the FRC control system*. I'm also responsible for all of the support that goes along with it. We recently decided to help improve our support position (actually improve our overall position by being able to spend more time developing software via reducing the amount of time we have to spend on support) by studying our support requests and upgrading our base documentation and creating an interactive help website.

When creating the new website I was all about the linking. One of the young guys in the group told me, "who cares, I just immediately go to the search feature." I initially wrote that off as two different styles of doing things.

After getting feedback on the site from many people, I finally noticed the trend that the old guys were all about having good links while the young guys were all about the search feature. I have some theories as to why that is, but I guess the important lesson was that different people approach things in different ways. This shouldn't have been a surprise to me - I recently wrote a long post on the important of diversity on a development team for this very reason. If you don't have people on your team to expose the different ways of thinking about problems, you're unlikely to uncover all of the use cases for your product (please don't read anything into that statement regarding the developers of the FRC docs - I just wanted to bring up a real-world example to support my earlier post in the other thread).

Anyway, thanks for listening. You guys have a great future ahead of you. Especially after putting up with an old crotchety guy like me.

* http://pi-innovo.com/product/