2015 Beta Testing - The Components are Here.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

I hated the IFI backup battery.
It was another thing for teams to keep track of and charged without an easy indicator of when it was depleted or the contact was bad.
They always seemed to be dead for 50% of the teams I helped at events.

Seconded for truth! That backup battery was a big pain to keep track of... One of our mentors ended up designing a charging circuit for it our second year, so it could stay charged off the main robot battery during competition.

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Everything is a solvable problem. It's the perspectives that differ.
From one perspective the best solution was to be rid of the added operational complexity and make the system more tolerant to low voltage conditions.
When the voltage gets that low, the robot is not going to be going anywhere anyway.

I wouldn't necessarily say the robot wouldn't be going anywhere. It could simply be because of large current draw from drive motors, not that the battery is dead. Waiting for the roborio to reset after that is a real killer. Could the solution be to just add a good sized capacitor across the power inputs?

[Mark McLeod]

I'd promote better power design.

P.S.
If you really have this problem then an easier solution might be to have your software check voltage and limit your power draw as it approaches the low end.
Both the cRIO and roboRIO designs cut your motor draw when the voltage drops too low, but if you have really severe power problems then you can implement your own smart power management.

[Greg McKaskle]

The alpha teams at the second weekend event were actively trying to reset, pushing walls for extended periods of time. We were happy with how it behaved, but they decided to tweak a few things in the FPGA. I'm anxious to see how the beta teams do.

Greg McKaskle

[Tom Line]

We spent a long time trying to get the robot to die and couldn't manage it. We could not move the robot because our voltage was so low, but the roborio never reset. I don't expect if to be a problem.

[Foster]

I call fake. Where is the famous "Cross the Road" chicken logo?

Thanks to the alpha teams for the pictures. It isn't quite September but teams are getting the start of build fever. Having real pictures tamps the burning hype down.

Nice looking boxes, it's shaping up for another year of the "electronics look professional"

[Nemo]

Can it be? Has the power board distribution board gotten smaller?

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by Nemo

Can it be? Has the power board distribution board gotten smaller?

Yup. That's been confirmed for a while now, if I remember correctly.

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

Well, the beta test components showed up yesterday and we couldn't resist snapping some pictures.

http://www.fightingpi.org/Resources/...oduction.shtml

There's not a lot that's new, but at least they've all got their official shells, so this is what you should expect to see for next season.

Beautifully timed, I'm looking for some pictures to put into a Powerpoint presentation for an upcoming training class.

Permission to use your pictures is requested.

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by BitTwiddler

Beautifully timed, I'm looking for some pictures to put into a Powerpoint presentation for an upcoming training class.

Permission to use your pictures is requested.

Absolutely!!!!! That's why we put them up, and that's the whole point of Beta.

[Mark McLeod]

We have some random Beta pictures too if you need more.
http://www.team358.org/files/program...stem2015-2019/

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

Absolutely!!!!! That's why we put them up, and that's the whole point of Beta.

Thanks Tom. I appreciate it. The pictures are good and clear.

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

We have some random Beta pictures too if you need more.
http://www.team358.org/files/program...stem2015-2019/

Mark, the diagram showing the architecture of the control system is just what the Doctor ordered. Thanks to you and the Eagles.

[timytamy]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

We have some random Beta pictures too if you need more.
http://www.team358.org/files/program...stem2015-2019/

On the diagram under the custom electronics port, it shows that the DIO has been pulled up to 3v3, implying that it uses 3v3 logic levels. Could you clarify, what logic levels does the RoboRIO use on both the main IO and MXP port? I believe I saw a voltage selection jumper on some alpha pics, implying that voltage is selectable, does this work and does it affect both the main-IO and MXP or just one?

Also your MXP pin-out is out of date. It appears that the roboRIO will get a different configuration to the myRIO (https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-30419)

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by timytamy

On the diagram under the custom electronics port, it shows that the DIO has been pulled up to 3v3, implying that it uses 3v3 logic levels. Could you clarify, what logic levels does the RoboRIO use on both the main IO and MXP port? I believe I saw a voltage selection jumper on some alpha pics, implying that voltage is selectable, does this work and does it affect both the main-IO and MXP or just one?

Per NI (a year ago), the voltage selection jumper is inside the case. I have not opened ours to check, however.