Errors at Colorado Regional

[Conor Ryan]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

In general, scouters and anyone sitting in the stands for that matter are really bad sources of random data on robot/field troubles.
I used to be one of them and I remember how wrong it all looks from the distance of the stands.
All they ever take notice of is that a robot isn't moving (yes/no).

Folks in the stands can't know the difference between a drive team choosing not to move (strategic, threw a chain, because the robot will break), a Ref disabling a robot for transgressions (dragging bumpers, outside starting configuration), a Driver Station issue (poor default power mgt settings, low battery, bad USB/Eth ports, unplugged USB/Eth), or a robot issue (wiring loosening up after being hit all day, code errors, DSC shorts or CAN wiring glitches that prevent driving but leave all other functions running).

Because the robot side of FMS is so simple, network problems are easy for the field crew to spot and deal with.

If you want to be scientific and gather actual data rather than anecdotal evidence, then scouters have to:

1. Ignore driver station positions in their reports (avoid confirmation bias-position can always be looked up later if it's important to you).
2. Note the RSL (solid off or solid on - not blinking) when a robot stops moving.
3. Note the team light (e-Stops are highlighted by the bottom yellow light)
4. Send drive team scouters to inquire at the team pits for the reason for the robot non-movement (only the drivers know, often not the pit crew and certainly never random team members)
5. Use pit scouters to ask how much testing time the robot had before the event. Face it, the vast majority of us build a robot in 6 weeks and collision test it only at the competition - that's why teams are shaking bugs out all through Championships.
6. The absolute best is to inspect the team Driver Station logs, not that teams are likely to let you look at them, but you can check your own. The robot is actually providing the data, so any loss of comms is pretty obvious, because the log goes blank. If it comes back again, then your robot rebooted.
7. Volunteer for field duty - they keep logs on all robot failures.

I cannot emphasize the importance of all of this enough. If you have further questions about specific on field issues at your event I recommend going to the question box.