Cannot get Spike Relay example to work

[xisybyl]

This started as a "compressor won't work" issue but after trying to simplify, we found the issue to be with the Spike relay alone.

We are now using the Spike Relay example (as supplied except for IP address) and find that no matter what we do on the VI the relay LED does not change from Red no matter what. We are seeing some errors thrown up, such as "Relay index is invalid", I/O unit not detected or installed incorrectly" ,

We have tried more than one Spike, I/O module and cable, and the cRIO image display shows the module installation is OK (shows green). We have checked input voltage. Needless to say the Compressor example doesn't work either.

The robot drive motors (PWM) DO work. The example is the only one loaded.

Can anyone help?

[Alan Anderson]

The "I/O unit" error is expected. It's just telling you the Driver Station didn't find a Cypress PsoC board connected.

How exactly do you have the Spike wired?

[xisybyl]

12 v to input (12v & G), Motor on M+ & M-, 3 wire (pwm type) cable from Relay 1 on sidecar to Spike as shown in example front Panel. Errors shown on driver station are very similar to those shown in thread
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...x+is+i nvalid

Why is it looking for a Cypress board in LabVIEW application?
What is "Relay Index is Invalid" telling us?

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by xisybyl

Why is it looking for a Cypress board in LabVIEW application?
What is "Relay Index is Invalid" telling us?

The Driver Station program always looks for the Cypress board.

The invalid relay index is a stumper. What is your Robot Signal Light doing? Is there a Digital I/O module installed in slot 2 of the cRIO as required?

[xisybyl]

Thanks, Alan for your reply and help. We are up now, but thought I'd close the loop.

It turned out we had two issues going on. The first was a "bad" cable btwn sidecar and cRIO module. Our repaired (due to mfg. defect) ribbon cable was not reliable. Very difficult to make a ribbon connector that large without proper tooling (a vise doesn't quite cut it). To make matters worse, neither of two round cables from previous years worked. (One of our mentors is having them checked at her company so we can understand why - do you?). The ultimate solution was to locate a completely new ribbon cable and use that. (This has been a solution to accelerometer issues elsewhere in Chief Delphi).

Second was getting the compressor and robot drive BOTH functioning. I ran a direct compressor reference wire from the begin VI to the Periodic (Timed Tasks) VI and located the compressor control VI there. (Later I discovered it was there already but was disabled.) Thanks for your comments on that. It took awhile for the solution to become clear.

As a final note, given that the compressor integration from example into the robot project was significantly different than most other examples I think it would help others if FRC added a note of clarification to the pneumatic examples.