Battery Problem

[Team 4939]

On the driver station the battery voltage is showing up as 00.00, but the battery is fully charged

Any ideas on why this would be happening will be greatly appreciated.

[Jon Stratis]

Check the analog breakout board on the robot. You need to provide 12V power to it from one of the 20A circuit breakers on the PBD (The red/black connectors, NOT the regulated output on the end). If you're doing that correctly, then look at the edge and see if it's a pre-2014 board. Figure 4-14 in the Robot Rules shows how to apply a jumper on pre-2014 boards to get the battery readout on the driver station.

[MrBasse]

At this point most teams have a hard time reading battery voltage from the robot because their robot is in a giant plastic bag...

[team222badbrad]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

At this point most teams have a hard time reading battery voltage from the robot because their robot is in a giant plastic bag...

Your post implies that this team is breaking the rules which is uncalled for.

Some teams are legally able to remove their robots from their bags after stop build day... We had ours out of the bag last night for 45 minutes to test autonomous.

Also just because they posted this question now does not mean they have had their robot out of the bag after stop build day.

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

At this point most teams have a hard time reading battery voltage from the robot because their robot is in a giant plastic bag...

Originally Posted by team222badbrad

Your post implies that this team is breaking the rules which is uncalled for.

Some teams are legally able to remove their robots from their bags after stop build day... We had ours out of the bag last night for 45 minutes to test autonomous.

Also just because they posted this question now does not mean they have had their robot out of the bag after stop build day.

It's also possible to have your electronics be part of the 45 lbs of unbagged fabricated items, or to have them not count towards the limit since most of them are COTS items on their own.

[Jon Stratis]

Additionally, with a 45lb withholding allowance many teams have their control systems out of the bag and on some sort of practice chassis to keep working on things like autonomous programming.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by team222badbrad

Your post implies that this team is breaking the rules which is uncalled for.

Some teams are legally able to remove their robots from their bags after stop build day... We had ours out of the bag last night for 45 minutes to test autonomous.

Also just because they posted this question now does not mean they have had their robot out of the bag after stop build day.

While I agree with you that this question does not by itself indicate that this team is breaking the rules, if the poster is indeed a representative of team 4939, then they are not attending an event that would give them a Robot Access Period.

[TikiTech]

Interesting, I show them as attending the Greater Toronto West Regional.

http://www.usfirst.org/whats-going-o...rogramCode=FRC

And as mentioned. Either you do not have power (12v, 20amp) running from the PD board to the Analog Breakout. Or the Analog breakout board is pre 2014 and need the jumper installed.. Or Both.

Good luck everyone!
Aloha

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by team222badbrad

Your post implies that this team is breaking the rules which is uncalled for.

Some teams are legally able to remove their robots from their bags after stop build day... We had ours out of the bag last night for 45 minutes to test autonomous.

Also just because they posted this question now does not mean they have had their robot out of the bag after stop build day.

It's things like this that make me miss the 1980's... Remember when not everyone had the Internet and people couldn't make snap judgments about you or your comments without ever seeing you?

I never said they were breaking the rules, I simply stated a fact. Do most teams not have their robot in a bag? How is it that they are being called out? If you are going to be so defensive, why not think they had a practice robot? That's where my head was...

On a serious note, everything Jon said is spot on. The question was answered so I thought I'd have some fun with it. I swear I'll never joke online again. CD is quickly becoming a place for information for me rather than participation.

There is a chance that they may not have known or that they may be making a mistake in unbagging or not bagging at all. Did you ever think that maybe some people make mistakes? I have seen several teams over the years that have worked on robots through the bag or with a carefully placed hole. If that's how those teams want to play the game, so be it. I don't want to make this a discussion about bagging, because I honestly am checking out of this one right now...Although I am curious on why you are allowed to test your robot after stop build.

[TikiTech]

Originally Posted by team222badbrad

Your post implies that this team is breaking the rules which is uncalled for.

Some teams are legally able to remove their robots from their bags after stop build day... We had ours out of the bag last night for 45 minutes to test autonomous.

Also just because they posted this question now does not mean they have had their robot out of the bag after stop build day.

Hmm.. I thought that taking the robot out of the bag is for community demonstrations and the like... Not to test anything... It even stated in the update that you should not have the driving team giving the demo... Just saying...


5.4.3 Robot Displays

New this year! To assist teams with their promotional and community relations activities, robots may be unbagged and operated briefly after “Stop Build Day” for display purposes only.
• The intent of this option is to allow teams to briefly show their robot to their community, sponsors, or potential sponsors after “Stop Build Day”. ◦ Unbagging a robot and putting it on display for many hours (i.e. more than four (4)) at a time would not be considered a ‘brief’ display

• The Robot Lock-Up Form must be used to track the unbagging and rebagging of the robot during this period. In the ‘Explanation’ column of the form, enter ‘Robot Display’
• No activity that could be considered ‘work on’ or ‘practice with’ the robot is allowed
• Brief displays of robot functions – driving, for example - are allowed, but not to the extent that they could be considered practice ◦ A good way to avoid turning a robot display period in to a practice session is to have non-drive team members operate the robot, and only for as short a time as necessary to show the robot’s capabilities


And I do agree things need to lighten up... but posting you are testing after tag and bag is... ya... just saying..

[EricH]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

Although I am curious on why you are allowed to test your robot after stop build.

Originally Posted by TikiTech

Hmm.. I thought that taking the robot out of the bag is for community demonstrations and the like... Not to test anything... It even stated in the update that you should not have the driving team giving the demo...

Y'all are forgetting about the district event Robot Access Periods--during which, anything goes, same as a practice day. Also, some teams got extensions.

Now, those don't apply here, but if you take the robot out of the bag for a community demo, it's reasonable to have it driveable. If, during that driving time, somebody happens to notice that the voltage is 00.00, and happens to read the rules and find that it should NOT be that, then it's a perfectly legitimate question. Savvy?


4939: Y'all are rookies this year, so maybe you missed a couple of things. If, in fact, your robot is not in the bag, and you don't have official permission via the demo rules (or, less likely, Robot Access Period--which doesn't apply to GTR West) or an official waiver from FIRST, you need to #1, get it in the bag as soon as possible, and #2, notify FIRST headquarters that you didn't bag for more than a week after the deadline. Otherwise, I assume you're asking because of something that you saw before bagging, or something that you saw during an allowed period, and you just happened to wait a bit before posting. The first post after the opening one has the best troubleshooting method. The inspectors at GTR West will also be able to help you.