[Greg McKaskle]

It sounds like you have a lengthy sequence of code executing in the TeleOp. Since the TeleOp is busy, it cannot process new packets with joystick info.

There are two common approaches to this problem. One is to move the solenoid code into a parallel periodic loop. Then the TeleOp no longer does the work, but triggers it using a global or other notification and is then free to continue on processing joystick data. In the periodic loop, you can delay and take all the time you like to sequence the mechanism. The last thing it does is to reset the global and wait for the next trigger.

The other way of doing this is to merge this loop with the teleOp and build a state machine which ticks away at the solenoid waits with each call to teleOp, but never delays for more than 20ms. Actually, this is usually done simply by assuming that you will return a bit later and doing time comparisons to the last solenoid action and moving to the next step after enough time has elapsed, but by not using any delays.

Greg McKaskle