Can we run 2015 code on [ [RoboRIO | cRIO] + old electronics ]?

[jman1783]

We have to bag up an incomplete robot this year, and every pound of the 30 that we hold back will be precious. This may mean not keeping the electronics out, but we don't have a duplicate set of the new gear yet.

In reading up on the new RoboRIO protocols, I have found in other posts that you need to be connected to the CAN lines to have the robot operational. This is unfortunate, because otherwise we could use the RoboRIO with last year's electronics to do some debugging in the post- bag-and-tag season.

I have two questions about this:

1. Can you run the RoboRIO with the old electronics, and has anyone confirmed this?

2. Can the current Labview libraries run with a cRIO and the old electronics?

[cgmv123]

The current LabView libraries can target 4-slot cRIO's. The current Java and C++ libraries cannot target any cRIO's.

[Mark McLeod]

We can run 2015 LabVIEW code on the older cRIO 4-slot system.

We can't mix some old electronics with the new roboRIO, e.g., the roboRIO won't drive a Digital Sidecar, and the standard software to drive pneumatics from a roboRIO depend on having a PCM tethered by CAN to the roboRIO.
There are some work arounds for running pneumatics the old way from the roboRIO.

The Power Distribution works for both, just don't wire the roboRIO into the 24v output.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by jman1783

...I have found in other posts that you need to be connected to the CAN lines to have the robot operational.

You must connect the PDP via CAN in order for the robot to be legal (according to the 2015 rules). It will still function without that connection.

[SuperBK]

We have a new RoboRio, but not a PDP. Wouldn't the RoboRio run OK just connected to 12 volts from and older power distribution board? This is just for testing from now until completion while the robot is in the bag.

[rich2202]

Originally Posted by SuperBK

We have a new RoboRio, but not a PDP. Wouldn't the RoboRio run OK just connected to 12 volts from and older power distribution board?

It should. As I understand, the CAN Bus is for logging purposes.

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by SuperBK

We have a new RoboRio, but not a PDP. Wouldn't the RoboRio run OK just connected to 12 volts from and older power distribution board? This is just for testing from now until completion while the robot is in the bag.

You can connect the roboRIO to either a regular Wago or to the special 12v boosted output from the older PDB.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

You can connect the roboRIO to either a regular Wago or to the special 12v boosted output from the older PDB.

It would be more appropriate to use a non-regulated voltage from a 10- or 20-amp circuit. That way the roboRIO will be able to read the battery voltage in order to report it to the Driver Station, and it will be able to do its staged brownout protection.

[Mark McLeod]

That's true, I neglected that.