How to build an Autonomous Mode dongle
 

I imagine there are some of you out there who will be interested in this information. We have determined how to build a dongle that plugs into the competition port and allows you to enable/disable autonomous mode.



The circuit above will give you a switch that has 3 positions: Robot Disabled, Normal, and Autonomous mode.

Disclaimer: you probably shouldn't build this. It could void the warranty on your control system. If you don't do it right it probably will ruin your OI. Please don't try it if you don't know exactly what you're doing.

Re: How to build an Autonomous Mode dongle
 

Is it that different from the competition disable dongle posted here on CD? Why the huge risk?

Re: Re: How to build an Autonomous Mode dongle
 

It's exactly the same as the disable dongle. Pin 6 gets grounded for Disabled mode, pin 5 gets grounded for Autonomous mode. The risk isn't that great, but since this information hasn't been published by Innovation FIRST it's worth pointing out that it might void the warranty. And, I don't want someone to try it and screw it up and say "I did what you said and it screwed up the OI!" If you feel comfortable building the disable dongle, you should be able to build this without a problem.

Pin 12 ground - NOT GOOD !
 

:eek: !!!!! W A R N I N G !!!!! :eek:

When I made a remote dongle for a competition clock, I asked IFI if i t would be correct to connect the port in a similar fashion, and was warned not to use 12 as ground, as it was to be reserved for some future use. IFI said the 2002 manual had not been updated before publishing, in this content area.

I posted this last year, too.

Does anyone know of an alternate ground pin? Also, can you use this dongle to change channels, too?

You change the channels on the Operator Interface itself. I believe it's the switch set on the bottom that has more switchlike qualities (I don't thing you need a pen to change it). You have to use the Yellow Dongle in the whitepapers section to be able to use multiple channels.

Yes, this dongle should behave the same as the yellow dongle with regards to using other channels.

Re: Pin 12 ground - NOT GOOD !
 

This dongle (and the yellow dongle) isn't using pin 12 as ground. We're using pin 8 as a ground. Pin 12 is being pulled to ground by pin 8, and pin 5 and 6 are being pulled to ground by pin 8 when the appropriate side of the switch is closed. This is still how it's described in the 2003 OI Reference. Do you think that the 2003 OI Reference is also incorrect?

FYI, Innovation First has now posted an official schematic for a Dongle which supports channel select, disable switching, and autonomous switching...here's the PDF...

http://www.innovationfirst.com/FIRST...nout_Guide.PDF

If pin 8 is ground why does IFI connect that pin to an external ground in their diagram?

I figure that if that schematic is wrong...then innovation first will have to take some kind of responsibility for everyone zapping their operator interface.

We finaly got ours finished tonight but we haven't tried it out yet.

Re: Re: Pin 12 ground - NOT GOOD !
 

Since pin 12 and pin 15 were connected, originally, for channel access, I must have mixed them. The original 2000 Docs call for ground on 15 and 8 (the two end pins on the connector, but 15 is no longer to be used as ground.

I've had a match timer that disables controllers and allows channel selection since last year, and pin 8 is the sole ground used.

Re: Re: Re: Pin 12 ground - NOT GOOD !
 

Ah, that makes sense. You had me worried there for a minute that I was unintentionally spreading bad information...:)

I plan to build a big red E-spot button into my "dongle" Just incase something goes awry:ahh: during testing of our robot.

We built a dongle using your design this weekend, and it's working perfectly. Just make sure you know which part of your switch is the common. It took us a while to figure that out, and re-soldering connections is not fun.