pic: (447) How do YOU keep programmers out of the electronics?

[rufu5]

loading photo ...

[rufu5]

You know its happened to you. You're the head electronics guy, you miss a day because you have skill bowl, you come back ... BAM! all the pwms are unplugged (of course you haven't got around to labeling them yet), he's holding a screw driver, and the programmer is ripping his hair out: "IT DOESN'T WORK!"

... oh nose ...

So I came up with a little "Keep your electronics safe" kit.

Share your electronic stories here.

[CyberWolf_22]

Wait I am both one of the head electronics guys and the lead programmer. But sometimes my programmer side wants to do things to the electrical system that the electrical side just plain would not like.

[CmptrGk]

well, as a programmer i belive that is completly evil, its hard enough when the speed controllers are near the program port. but having a mouse trap thats just plain evil. but some thing u can tell the programmer that the mouse trap is the new model victor on it. since it says victor.


now heres my electronics story.

i think a week ago, we were debugging the pwm connections, and one of them wasnt working. so we unplugged the pwm cable, while the robot was on. so when we tried to plug it back in, i accidentally touched the pwm cable to the metal fins IN the speed controller, ZZAPPPP, sparks, and the speed controller blows. i thought i blew out the pwm port on the rc also, it scared the crud out of me. its why my sig says proud destroyer of a victor.

dillon

[AIBob]

Slight physical blocks will never stop a good programmer, we can just program around it.

[CmptrGk]

Originally Posted by AIBob

Slight physical blocks will never stop a good programmer, we can just program around it.

yes but in the spur of the moment, you have to dl the new code, uve been called to be queued up, theres a mouse trap above the program port, then SNAP, pinched fingers = bad typing, and pain.

[rufu5]

theres a mouse trap above the program port, then SNAP, pinched fingers = bad typing, and pain.

see, the programmer in its natural habitat will instinctively blame the electronics for the problem:

just this evening the programmer and his dad spent (no exaggeration) 1.5 hrs troubleshooting the electronics, before they figured out "hey, i just loaded a new code"

as a good electronics person, whenever you see a programmer with a screwdriver, you must immediately inform the proper authorities

i love programmers

[408Oxidation]

Yeah I've had the same problems...
I'm thinking of hiding everything but the switch and the robot controller on days that I'm gone....
And our team is the same- every programming problem is blamed on the electronics.. lol

[stephenthe1]

personally, I don't think there is any need for a separate electrical and programming group. The programmers should be the ones to do the electronics and programming, this way they are completely in control of their code and can more easily find bugs in their code, or modify electronics on the ui or bot more quickly. seems more efficient to me. and by the way, 1.5 hours shouldn't be complained about, unless you have years of experience.. I won't go into how much time we've spent troubleshooting our pneumatics. came down to a bad pwm wire. I spent probably 6 hours overall, modifying code, etc. because they always thought it was a problem in my code. wow, wish I had more experience.

[Rick TYler]

First off, I'm not sure that you are using the correct Victor for this year, but unless you post a pic with the model number I guess we have to trust you.

Second, it won't work. No programmer will be stopped by a mere hardware feature. (Here, let me do that ... *SNAP* OW OW OW!!! Hey, what was that? <reboot> Here let me do that ... *SNAP* OW OW OW!!! Hey, what was that? <reboot>: well, you get the point.)

Third, if they're going to blame you for it anyway, you might as well have fun.

Fourth, as a mentor I have to frown on this sort of thing.

Fifth, as a former programmer and amateur radio operator,

Sixth, remember, as fur-bearing creatures, programmers may only be trapped between November and March.

[rufu5]

1.5 hours shouldn't be complained about, unless you have years of experience..

Well the funny thing is, this is my sixth year on this team, and my first four years (back in the glorious days of basic) I did electronics and programming. The two aformentioned programmers on my team are second year (a father and a son). What I did was, after spending about 10 mins tracing all my connections with an ohm meter, I did the only logical thing and (in my mind) blamed it on the programmers. One hour and twenty minutes later, they tried a new code and ... IT WORKED! I thought: "Eh, might as well let them figure it out for themselves."

So I completly agree with

Third, if they're going to blame you for it anyway, you might as well have fun.

you are a wise man Rick

[cdawzrd]

I agree it seems odd to have seperate electronics and programming teams, unless you have a crazybig team and it makes sense that way. My co-programmers and I do all the electronics as well. This makes it soo much more efficient, especially with the recent addition of such electronics as the camera. We also are less likely to get in each others' way. But, we've always had this sort of "mechanical team" and "everything else technical" team :-)

[Biff]

Originally Posted by rufu5

see, the programmer in its natural habitat will instinctively blame the electronics for the problem:

just this evening the programmer and his dad spent (no exaggeration) 1.5 hrs troubleshooting the electronics, before they figured out "hey, i just loaded a new code"

as a good electronics person, whenever you see a programmer with a screwdriver, you must immediately inform the proper authorities

i love programmers

Been there, and As a lead mentor, when I get really grumpy, I make programming back up every hex file with a useful name, So the one that was somewhere near correct can be put back in while they sort out what went wrong.

[pickle]

Biff: You'd get along well with our electronics/programming mentor.....

Our problem usually lies in mechanical people messing up... I'll never forget that somehow they shorted out one of our relay outputs with a chain.... That was amusing, especially as they scream and say "uhhhh.... pickle... are sparks a good thing coming out of that black box???". Ya, it was fun.

But you should be nice to programmers, we don't like being blamed for everything (because its so easy). I think last year one of the teachers told me to fix like a mechanical design flaw in software.. this year i think he told me to take 10 pounds off in software... You should love your programmers

But I do think that since electronics and programming are so related, its a good idea to have one team work on both. It keeps things less confusing. Last year we had to play the pick the pwm port game, where before almost every match they had rewired the PWM cables to different outputs because they didn't know which went where. That was oodles of fun, especaially if it didn't get worked out before the driver had to drive it..... Though, beware programmers with screwdrivers is a good motto.. *looks at scars* hammer + screwdriver + programmer = bad

[Katy]

A mousetrap? *sighs* yet another software problem...