How do you simulate start of a match?

[Greg McKaskle]

I'd use a practice match to verify that the SW transitions as it is supposed to.

I'd use the buddy system to review power connections go to the correct PD circuit. For example, make sure that the cRIO and radio are connected to the dedicated terminals on the end of the PD. The robot will not fail immediately if wired wrong, but will typically fail when the battery gets drained a bit and you stall the motors pushing another robot or a wall.

Jiggle and wiggle the power wires to the cRIO and the radio. Do this at both ends -- PD and device. This will help catch issues with shorts and opens that will occur when the robot is bumped.

Test your batteries and ensure that your recharge process won't send you to the field with a partial charge. Also consider the process for the driving laptop power.

Write up a checklist, either paper or in the dashboard, and review it with the team. Include elements like making sure that the battery is connected, ethernet is connected, code is deployed, etc.

From my time as a CSA, these items account for 80 or 90% of robot failures on the field. Yes, there are some mysterious issues with wifi, routers, firmware variations, and bugs in WPILib, but they are a small portion of what FTA and CSA help with.

Gre gMcKaskle