Driver Station

[mikegrundvig]

I'm sorry, this is a really dumb question but I'm just not sure where to look to get the info. If someone can just give me a basic link I'll do the research.

I'm a new mentor on the team and I'm trying to learn the ins and outs of this without slowing everyone down. Where can I learn about the driver station beyond the rules? I've read the rules, I'm talking more about what we can do. I know the machine is on a network with the robot. I know there is some driver dashboard software but I know nothing about it. I know we get a joystick but what else do we get? Can we add custom controls and where is the line drawn? Can we use an Arduino or other microcontroller if it's doing nothing but interfacing controls with the computer? I don't want to break the rules, but I feel a custom control scheme and HUD could make for better drivers and I know our students could do it. Where do I learn the details of this stuff beyond the rule books? Thanks!

-Mike

[linuxboy]

This is FIRST's page on the Driver Station (there may be more, but that is the one I've found). In terms of a custom HID, there is a link on that page to the Cypress I/O Pinout Tables. The Cypress is a module that connects via USB and allows you to wire custom HID circuits and get analog voltages and digital values on the robot.

[slijin]

Originally Posted by mikegrundvig

I know there is some driver dashboard software but I know nothing about it.

The bulk of this software is provided in the Kit of Parts; WindRiver is used for C++, Netbeans for Java, and LabView for, well, LabView. This is the computer's control interface for the robot, and is the only GUI you're allowed to use in competition to control the robot.

Originally Posted by mikegrundvig

I know we get a joystick but what else do we get?

What controls you use are purely up to you. Many teams use a dual Attack 3 setup for driving, in conjunction with a separate controls set for the robot's other functions. Others use Xbox joysticks, Logitech Gamepads, twist-axis joysticks, etc - it all depends on the team and the driver.

Originally Posted by mikegrundvig

Can we add custom controls and where is the line drawn? Can we use an Arduino or other microcontroller if it's doing nothing but interfacing controls with the computer? I don't want to break the rules, but I feel a custom control scheme and HUD could make for better drivers and I know our students could do it.

At the moment, the Cypress First Touch and CCI (available from E-Stop Robotics) are the most common interfaces used by teams for custom control schemes. There are alternatives - last year, one team used a touch screen interface to hang tubes - but if I'm not mistaken, interfacing with the First Touch and CCI are the simplest for the DS (Driver Station) to deal with.

[mikegrundvig]

Thanks, this is incredibly helpful. I often hear from my team that we are limited in what we can use but then I see other teams doing very different things. For instance, I was told outright we had to use the joystick that came with the kit and nothing else. That seemed very odd to me since I know we created a small keypad one year and even won an award for it.

You mention Netbeans as the UI - that's just a Java editor. Can we simply create whatever UI we want then or does it have to run inside of the Netbeans framework or are we customizing an existing editor using Netbeans as the editing tool? Though if it's that last one, I don't see why Netbeans is the only option as there are many excellent editors.

-Mike

[mikegrundvig]

BTW: the pinout tables PDF file at that link is a 404. Anyone have another link? Thanks!

[Cecil]

Originally Posted by mikegrundvig

BTW: the pinout tables PDF file at that link is a 404. Anyone have another link? Thanks!

Different link is here.

If it is within your budget, I would highly recommend this part from AndyMark. It helps a great deal mapping the pins, and reduces the chance of wires falling out of the breadboard just before a match.

[theprgramerdude]

Originally Posted by slijin

The bulk of this software is provided in the Kit of Parts; WindRiver is used for C++, Netbeans for Java, and LabView for, well, LabView. This is the computer's control interface for the robot, and is the only GUI you're allowed to use in competition to control the robot.


What controls you use are purely up to you. Many teams use a dual Attack 3 setup for driving, in conjunction with a separate controls set for the robot's other functions. Others use Xbox joysticks, Logitech Gamepads, twist-axis joysticks, etc - it all depends on the team and the driver.


At the moment, the Cypress First Touch and CCI (available from E-Stop Robotics) are the most common interfaces used by teams for custom control schemes. There are alternatives - last year, one team used a touch screen interface to hang tubes - but if I'm not mistaken, interfacing with the First Touch and CCI are the simplest for the DS (Driver Station) to deal with.

The Driver Dashboard software you speak of is not included in the kit of parts. It must be downloaded and installed from National Instruments website; once that's done, the software can be started like any other program and it will automatically detect and connect to the cRio when there's a possible linkup.

The programming software simply enables you to customize the code on the robot to output custom data to the running dashboard and driver station software.

I agree about the Cypress, one thing you'll find is that it's definitely the best time saver to, instead of hacking your own solution together with such a complicated system, it's best to learn to use their code libraries and modules and interface those with your robot control code. The built in libraries provide easy to use methods to interact with the Cypress, which one can hook up to a number of different digital and analog inputs, in addition to providing basic joystick/joypad control.

[Greg McKaskle]

The Dashboard EXE is installed with the Driver Station. It is a compiled version of the code that is installed with LV. Many teams modify this code to add or remove displays, log match data, etc. There are also frameworks for making the dashboard out of Java and C#. One last clarification: the dashboard can communicate directly with the robot. So, it is possible to have autonomous settings or other information sent to the robot.

Greg McKaskle

[linuxboy]

Originally Posted by mikegrundvig

BTW: the pinout tables PDF file at that link is a 404. Anyone have another link? Thanks!

After clicking the link to the pin outs add www. To the beginning of the URL.