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Re: Intermittent connection on field only
RyanN:
I deeply respect that power quality issues are not the only issue on the field. That's why I asked to separate the issue repeatedly.
Obviously when component in the power supply to the D-Link AP goes bad it can do so at anytime.
Team 11 drove our robots extensively before the competition in Philly even at other competitions. All of a sudden the DC-DC converter decided to be a problem. We, like apparently most people were not instructed to load test the D-Link AP supply, no process was provided nor even basic specifications. I did ask repeatedly in this topic whom else load tested that supply with no responses.
This was a power quality issue that was intermittent on the field only seemingly, but just because the timing of the failure coincided with the punishing match schedule.
Not all power quality issues are wiring problems. Not all power quality issues are component issues. As others have said, in the absence of procedure and tools it's very hard to walk a troubleshooting process to work that out especially under pressure and especially when there are real WiFi communications issues that keep undermining the basic troubleshooting process.
It's entirely conceivable in the current test environment for a team to check their wiring, replace the D-Link AP. Fail on the field. Replace their DC-DC converter and fail again on the field. Replace their PDB (which can easily consume all the time between matches) and fail on the field.
Then after all of that diligence, they fail on the field for other reasons which may, or may not have been there all along as well.
So in effect that's about 4 matches of effort right there where a robot might be totally or mostly non-functional. That's a great deal of ground to loose. Compound that with the fact that your robot's mechanisms might not be top tier and those 4 or 5 matches might put you out of the competition entirely.
I know we are here to above all have fun. How much fun is it for a rookie team to possibly loose 4 matches due to an unclear troubleshooting path, have to go home and find more sponsorship to come back next year, and while they are at it very likely be entirely unable to repair the issue once they leave that environment? Doesn't sound like fun to me and please be aware I was one of the people that founded Team 11.
Given the opportunity to treat this issue separately that's what should be done. I respect that your team expended all possible tools and efforts to eliminate your concerns. However, until someone helps me to separate these 2 topics properly I am left little choice to respond within the limited venue I've been offered. If people were trying to respect this basic foundational concern they'd help me move out of the way instead of demand my silence.
Perhaps more importantly, demanding my silence here is symptomatic of the fact that we have had communications issues with this system for years and in the past the finger was pointed at the robots. The teams had no reason to believe that the problem could be anything but them because the authorities on the subject insisted that it could not be the field. People should stop insisting, open the floor, divide the topics and if you want me to shut up and test myself let me get onto a competition field and do what I need to do.
Last edited by techhelpbb : 30-04-2012 at 13:24.
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