[emmell]

I'm sorry to hear about the problems in New York and St. Louis. I was the FTA for the Kell Robotics FTC Qualifier in Georgia and we saw none of those problems. This was the first qualifier for our state and so we had to flash each of the Samanthas with the configuration for the FTC_FIELD and FTC_PIT routers. Out of the 11 teams, we only had 2 problems with Samanthas in getting the flash to work properly (the FTC_FIELD worked, FTC_PIT didn't). So those two teams had to be tethered in the pits to practice. But no one had any problems communicating with the FTC_FIELD router.

We did have 2 issues during our qualification matches. One team got hit hard and Samantha dropped communications. The other, the NXT locked up and wouldn't respond to anything (we saw that happen with Bluetooth as well). Samantha stayed connected to the FCS during the lockup, so I don't know what happened there.

One thing that was great was that we didn't have any problems getting the teams back up and running for matches 2 through the end when they reported back to the field. The teams put the robots on the field and turned them on and the FCS found them right away and we were ready to start the next match. As a tournament organizer, I find that to be the best leap in progress with working with these robots with a centralized FCS. So, don't be too hard on Samantha yet.

So, a couple of tips that the teams and organizers should know:
1) Teams: Do not bring your routers to the competition. Keep the wifi to a minimum to keep it open for the competition.
2) Organizers: Make sure you set up the FTC_FIELD on one channel of the WiFi spectrum and FTC_PIT on a different one. Having them on the same channel will just confuse things.
3) Teams: Make sure your Samantha is not buried in the bowels of your robot. It's best to mount it vertically and with the red button on the top (the actual antenna is on top of the unit).
4) Teams: Get a small 1 foot USB extension cord and plug that into the Samantha unit and zip tie that securely to Samantha and the bot. You can then plug your USB cable from the NXT into the extension cord. Then, when the organizers need to flash Samantha, you can just disconnect the USB cable from the extension cord and plug the flash drive into it. Then flash Samantha and reconnect the cable. This will also relieve any stress that directly affects the Samantha unit. Also, get a small USB A-B cord (1'-1.5' feet). Secure these cables to the robot with zip ties.
5) Teams and Organizers: If you do have two routers (FTC_FIELD and FTC_PIT), make sure you wait 30-40 seconds during the flashing process to get both network's information loaded onto the Samantha. The Red, White, Blue lights should light up in succession twice (once for the FTC_FIELD and the second time for FTC_PIT). Then connect to the FTC_PIT router while in the pits to test out the bot. When you come to the field for the first time, you may have to press the red button on Samantha to sync. Then you'll be set for the day.
6) Teams: Make sure you compile and download the Samostat program to your brick. You can find it two folders under the Program Files\Samantha Field Control System folder. One for LABView and the other for ROBOTC. Pick the appropriate one for your system and install it on the brick. FTAs will use that program to see your configuration status for Samantha and make sure you can talk to the field and pit routers respectively.

I hope this will help you. Good luck to all the teams and all event organizers out there.