[pitzoid]

Interesting thread:

Let me dispell some of the myth.

FMS sets up connections exactly like you do in your testing except for the fact you're using a WPA key to make sure no one can interferre with your radio transmissions intentionally/unintentionally.

Each team has a VLAN tunnel specifically for their bot that doesn't cross with ANYTHING else on the field. Certain things are blocked in the tunnel having to do with video ports, but nothing else.

So for the most part, communicating with your bot on the fields is the same as whatever testing you did at your school.

That being said, some things I've noticed that you all should look out for hooking up on the field.

1) Make sure your ethernet connection is all the way inserted into your DS
2) Make sure the DB9 is plugged in securely also. If the DB9 seems "loose" make sure you mention this to the FTA so they can correct. The DB9 supplies power and the enable circuit for the DS, if it jiggles loose during a match, you will see the DS screen go dark or reboot causing connection loss.
3) No Comms issues could be for a number of reasons. Initially mainly having to do with the static discharges that were happening on the field, but that seems better with the addition of the trailer drag chains. I'd suspect now many of the issues being seen have to do with radio placement in the robot, i.e. where the WGA is.

I was at the PHX regional this past weekend helping out the FTA when I could (been a PHX regional judge last 6 years) and I saw a few times where teams would have issue with their radios dropping during a match and the number one thing I'd get from hostile teams when this happened was "it worked in our lab". Well guess what, being on the field with 5 other robots and a bunch of production gear is worlds apart from "being in your lab" not optimal for potential noise being introduced to your radio. So regardless of whether you think you've got it ll figured out or not, move the radio as far away from other noisey things like motor controllers and relays as possible. I suggest a MINIMUM of 6", more if you can. In Phoenix there was not a single field fault the whole tournament. There was one replay due to a vision target falling off a trailer during a match. The Qualification and Elimination tournaments both finished early. Certain FTAs and Field Crews are still gaining familiarity with the new robot and field systems. Until we work through this natural cycle of introducing new gear, there will be some issues. We're already seeing incredible improvements from the first couple weeks of regionals, the last two weeks overall have run very smooth (after introduction of the trailer chains).

There's no FMS conspiracy to make Red win more than Blue, thats just silly. The scorekeeper has indicators on their screen for if FMS is having issue with any of its periferies on the field. FMS communicates with each SCCE on the field every 20ms to check the gigabit network. This is twice as fast as you communicate with your robot. If there's a problem, it lets the scorekeeper know.