RC Analog Pins not working

[Uberbots]

So before we shipped our 2008 bot to wherever it goes, we noticed that our all-to-important gyro and ultrasonic sensors would not read when plugged into the controller on that bot.

We ran tests, we used different sensors, and nothing worked. We then put the sensor on another board (the 2007 board, same code) and it worked fine. we are wondering if something is wrong with our controller, and if we should even bother trying to fix it at the regional tomorrow.

help? has anyone seen this problem before?

[TubaMorg]

Right before we shipped someone was adjusting our arm and dropped the full weight onto the program port, tearing it off. With the benefit of hindsite we realized that the RC location was, perhaps, not such a good spot. Luckily the GDC has ruled (it's in one of the updates) that 2007 RC's can be used as replacements for the 2008 RC. Lucky for us because until we found that out we were wondering what we were going to do. Not enough money left in the budget to buy a new one. We were counting on borrowing a spare RC at the regional.

[whytheheckme]

Yes, if your bot isn't reading sensor values, I would most certainly replace it. Grab your '07 controller off your old bot before you leave, and just swap it out. I'm sure post-season you could figure out what's wrong with your '08 controller, but for now, just replace it.

My immediate reaction would be to buy another one if you have the spare cash, but thinking about it, Spare Parts should have yet another replacement if you need one, plus a boat load of teams..... and rumor has it that this is either the last or second to last year that we'll see this controller....


My 2 cents.

Jacob

[Uberbots]

Originally Posted by whytheheckme

Yes, if your bot isn't reading sensor values, I would most certainly replace it. Grab your '07 controller off your old bot before you leave, and just swap it out. I'm sure post-season you could figure out what's wrong with your '08 controller, but for now, just replace it.

My immediate reaction would be to buy another one if you have the spare cash, but thinking about it, Spare Parts should have yet another replacement if you need one, plus a boat load of teams..... and rumor has it that this is either the last or second to last year that we'll see this controller....


My 2 cents.

Jacob

Thats what we are leaning toward... we (or at least i) dont want to have to deal with this thing (=

[eugenebrooks]

Swap the 2007 controller in when you get to the event,
you may need to upgrade the master code to the current
code. Bring your 2008 controller home from the event
with you and send it to IFI for repair/replacement after
checking it.

Eugene

[Al Skierkiewicz]

We found a few 2008 RC loaded with Version 13 code in Chicago. If your code cannot run on V13 then that might be the problem. To check, tether up and power the robot. Press the button underneath the team numbers on your OI to cycle through the readout and you will get to a display that starts with a v followed by two numbers. It should be v15 but if it is v13 you will have to reload the firmware and then your software. Just a possible solution...

[whytheheckme]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

We found a few 2008 RC loaded with Version 13 code in Chicago. If your code cannot run on V13 then that might be the problem. To check, tether up and power the robot. Press the button underneath the team numbers on your OI to cycle through the readout and you will get to a display that starts with a v followed by two numbers. It should be v15 but if it is v13 you will have to reload the firmware and then your software. Just a possible solution...

I believe the rules say that if you are to use an '07 RC, it needs to be brought up to v15.

Can't find the quote though, so I could be wrong. I just seem to remember pulling out my '07 RC after reading that somewhere to upgrade it, just incase we ever needed to do a swap.

Jacob

[GRS]

Make sure that there isn't a short between the red & black wires on any of the sensor inputs, or that all the lights are green; a low voltage output could cause the symptoms you're describing.

[Ken Streeter]

Originally Posted by GRS

Make sure that there isn't a short between the red & black wires on any of the sensor inputs....

In all cases for us that the "analog pins stopped working" it was the case that there was an unintentional short between power and ground on the I/O pins. (We've had an embarrassing number of these occurrences over the past four years!) An important thing to note is that the short doesn't need to be on the analog pins! We had a problem this year where a short on some unused digital I/O pins made itself apparent only because the "analog pins stopped working."

Best regards,
--ken

[JDM]

Originally Posted by whytheheckme

I believe the rules say that if you are to use an '07 RC, it needs to be brought up to v15.

Can't find the quote though, so I could be wrong. I just seem to remember pulling out my '07 RC after reading that somewhere to upgrade it, just incase we ever needed to do a swap.

Jacob

The rules say master code v15 must be used (regardless of the controller year) and Team Update #11 allows teams to use 2007 controllers.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

All,
If you have a 2007 controller and it was used on an FRC robot after week 1 or 2 last year, it should have been upgraded to v15 at or before those events. v15 was introduced last year and was checked as part of the inspection process. v15 is dated 2/27/2007.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

...a display that starts with a v followed by two numbers.

It's actually a u followed by three numbers (the version number intrudes briefly on the "user mode byte" display). The inspectors expect to see u015 when they check.

[Uberbots]

thanks for the help guys. i guess ill be doing a bit more debugging tomorrow.

(=