Pneumatics not working properly. Help rookies, please!

[ashweeeeeeeeeen]

We have a video of the failure happening: http://youtu.be/LFC2dyT4D04

We also have a video of the solenoid status lights turning off when the failure occurs. We will be posting this shortly.

[ashweeeeeeeeeen]

Here is the other video: http://youtu.be/2kFg81dtRwg

[snoman]

did the compressor kick on before or after the arms opened?

[Gregor]

Are you using a battery in need of a charge? When the battery gets low the Roborio shuts everything off (which returns single solenoids to their default state) to protect a radio reboot.

[GeeTwo]

I can't see enough detail in the videos to see your wiring or even the lights that are going out. [list][*]Are the solenoid status lights you referring to the ones on the PCB, or something on the solenoid itself? [*]Are these single solenoid valves (with a spring return) or doubles (which will only switch based on positive electrical signal)?[*]If they are singles, the most likely case is a loss of voltage causing a PCB brown out. This happens when your motor is running, so this makes sense. Have you been tracking the voltage? I see that in 12V mode, the PCB just passes battery voltage to the solenoids; in 24V it is regulated. I didn't find the brownout voltage for the PCB itself.[*]If it's not some sort of brownout, it may be a loose connection anywhere from the PDP to the solenoid actuator somewhere. It may also be a software issue, though this seems unlikely. If you can't find any electrical issue, I would suggest creating a smart dashboard widget to monitor the programmed state of each solenoid valve.

[Foster]

It looks like a battery charge problem. Is the battery fully charged? What does the dashboard voltage show.

It looks like the elevator part is moving up and down when it happens. Does the power th hit happen only when you are moving the elevator?

[Foster]

I'll get burned, but "BUMP* to get this in the top. You guys have the day to work, what are you finding out?

OB "Why do you care?" Its scary to be in a high school physics classroom with no idea what to do. Or so I've heard

The last 48 hours are the worst in most rookie teams lives. Second is when they roll this robot onto a field in 11 days....

[mshafer1]

Just looking at the video, I'm not sure if it's a battery or program issue, could you post your code?