[marccenter]

Dear CD,
I believe the communication problems we were having on the field at the Michigan Waterford District were solved by eliminating unnecessary Dashboard variables and upgrading the 09 classmate to a newer Laptop for the FRC Dashboard component used with the Joysticks.
Here's what happened and my solution. Our student driver complained of lagging on the field during the last minute of operation. Upon finishing the match I took the robot (with same battery) to the practice field, tethered the system, and had the other student driver drive until the battery was dead and the system worked fine. I began to think perhaps a radio issue, however, the radio is mounted in a good position so I didn't think that was a good path to go down.
I went home for the evening and remembered that when I was experimenting with potentiometers at home with the Dashboard and the 09 classmate that the POT readings tracked closely upon start up but after a minute or so of operation would track poorly. I checked the 09 classmate CPU and it was like 75% utilization. I just made a mental note at this time (at home). But I decided this was the path to follow.
Saturday morning I talked to the Field FTA and he confirmed that he has saw long "trip times" on our robot on the field the previous day (why didn't he tell me?). I think he quoted 25 msec. I told him I would be changing Laptops for the dashboard and would like to be updated on my communication packet trip times.

Now, because I wanted my best operation on the field. I also changed the Dashboard program to eliminate four dashboard variables I did not need. So I changed both the FRC dashboard laptop and my program. I had the same driver drive in the morning and she reported smooth operation. The Field FTA later quoted that my packet trip times were down to 4 or 5 msec which was "good".

I am not using a camera (disabled) and the software I am using is "solid".

So my recommendation to teams is to certainly disable the camera if you are not using it, eliminate any Smart Dashboard parameters that you aren't using for the field, and update your FRC Dashboard laptop computer (faster CPU/more RAM?) for the Field.

I hope this helps you.. Please comment if you think this solution may have helped you so we can continue to make a better season for everyone.

PS: Talk to the CSA & FTA field folks if you are having what you think is a field communication issue. I am also adding that the possibility of a programming issue is always present in this competition environment.