Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the field crew wouldn't let us plug in until the robots were powered on.

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

I'm pretty sure you had to plug in your driver stations before your robots were on the field. We worked that system out on Thursday which sped things up enormously through Fri and Sat. The field crew can then make sure your DS is seen by the FMS while the field is being cleared, and it gives them another minute or two to work out any issues with your DS <-> FMS connection. The robots also 'seem' to link up more repeatably when the DS is up first, then the robot comes up.

If your robot link wasn't OK at the start of the match, the field wouldn't have gotten a green light. 1503 also seemed to move ok at first in auto mode, then died in the middle of the field :(

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Towards Finals, we were told to turn the robot on the instant it hit the field.
That meant that if our student who was plugging in the controls wasn't quick to do so, the robot could have been turned on before the controls were plugged in.
It could have very easily been a problem for some teams.
Thankfully, this did not effect us, but could have effected our partners...

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Nope, The robots didn't matter.... The score table needs to pre-start each match before it can successfully link to the DS. That being said the DS was the ONLY thing that needs to wait to be powered on. Our score table sent us 3 types of signals that we followed to ensure Pre-Start was complete. One was his verbal voice over the mic, the second was the announcer instructing the teams to do so and last but not least the score table wrote on a white board which instructed us to do so just in case no one was listening. Once the DS powers on it takes a lot less time to search for the robot b/c the robot has already been on for a minute and searching for the DS.

And if I'm not mistaken 1503's issue on the field was either the radio wasn't plugged in the way OR it wasn't jacked in all the way on the cRio... I say this only b/c I wasn't the one to do field checks during that match BUT I do recall something coming over the radio to which was either those 2 cases. Someone from FTA should've have came over and explained why the robot wasn't moving. I don't also recall if it was a field issue b/c we did start getting those in elims. BUT I doubt it since the robot did have Auto., The robot could have also shut down due to a Watchdog error which we were getting / seeing from lots of teams via software installed OR the battery could've been low but once again someone from FTA should've said something. There was alot going on so the message may have gotten lost in either those cases...

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Alright so some key notes after our scorekeeper follow-up call this week.

-To eliminate your robot from moving or twitching....when you plug in your DS make sure that the switch is on Teleop mode, not auto mode. (Peter talked about this in an earlier post)

-Do not plug in your DS until you are told by FTA, one of their assistance, or the announcer

-Robots really should be turned on after the DS is linked to the field, this will prevent any movement from the robot but it is ok if the robot is powered up (Just a safety issue that they will make sure is done for week 3 regionals!)

-We also had trouble with the pit display, when there was a tie it didn't sync up correctly. They are looking into that.

Here are basically the key notes or at least the most important that they told us about. If you have questions about anything else feel free to post and I will look into them along with others. Week 3 regionals should be very smooth!

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

I forgot you were on here lol :P

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Haha yupp!!! Good Luck with the rest of your regionals! :D

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Now that I've had a few days of rest and back into a new quarter at RIT I can finally give my congrats.

Major Congrats to all the teams who make FLR really feel like home. Seeing everyone there really felt like a family reunion as always. It was quite different being on the other side of things with volunteering this year. I was able to hear some really amazing stories from different teams.

Congrats to all the rookies that went though their first FIRST competition (especially 2999. It was a great season mentoring you guys!). All of you did great out there and I was very impressed with the double rookie alliance.

Thank you to all the judges for helping out. It was really great meeting and being able to work with you all as the Judges Assistant.

Dont know if I could thank everyone that I could possibly think of, but congrats to all the teams, and the rest of the volunteers. It was truly an amazing regional.

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

One other thing,

When the match ended, our robot returned to the "No Comm" state, and did not shut off again.

Still confused, but I guess unless more information comes available I guess we've beat this topic to death.

-Nick

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

We were not allowed to plug our driver stations in until a volunteer told us to do so. At this point the robots were already on the field and turned on in most cases.

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

That's correct. It has nothing really to do with connecting to the field. It's ok that you do this the only problem it creates is that the Robot may twitch or move! At the end we allowed teams to put their moon rocks in their robot before they powered up. In week 3 regionals they may not allow you to turn on your robots until the DS is connected to the field. This is just a safety issue i'm guessing if they do that during week3 regionals.

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Hmmm, ok Jeremy beat me to it...

Slaps Jeremy :P

Everything is trial and error and from what Jeremy said in his second to last post and this last post it appears procedures have changed again for week 3 so keep your ears and eyes open to volunteer instructions. Procedures are changing quickly.

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Just a note about FMS communication and robot actions:

You know when the field is aligned for your robot/team when you see your team number on the team sign. Your robot will not be able to sync before this as your bot radio SSID will not be registered in the Field Access Point.

ANYTIME your DS hears an FMS message directed towards it, it will shift into FMS/competition mode, doesn't matter if its link with the bot etc... DS will stay in FMS/competition mode until it is power cycled. If the DS does not shift into FMS mode when connected to the field its one of two things, either its a manufunctioning DS or you are plugged into the wrong team station.

cRio will be disabled till it first talks with DS. NI reps will have to verify if teams can actually override this with errant code, but I know of no way that that can happen.

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Thanks for clarifying that up Bob. There was a lot of talk about it in the follow-up call this past Monday with Matt and I must have missed that little part about it.

Re: 2009 Finger Lakes Regional!!!!
 

Thank you as well, 2053 for being a great alliance partner. We were definitely against it when we started the playoffs and I'm sure you guys weren't too thrilled by being partnered with two rookies but we should the type meddle we had in that first match. I don't think I've been that excited in my life, the prospect of knocking off the number one seed with a 2/3s rookies alliance was insane. Thanks again FLR, it was amazing!!