ANNOUNCING: navX MXP Robotics Navigation Sensor

[marshall]

Originally Posted by DKolberg

I am trying to verify operation using the navX mxp by hooking up to a PC with a USB cable. When I connect the usb from the pc to the navX nothing happens, the lights on the navX blink and go green, but he PC does not see any com port nor any device loading message. when I open the configuration utility no com ports show up. How do I configure the drivers so the PC can talk to the navX?

Is this a Windows system? The NavX should show up as a COM device. My best guess from your description is that the USB cable you are using doesn't support data and just does power but I could be wrong.

Scott Libert (Of NavX fame) is competing with his team this weekend so I don't think you'll get an official response until next week but I would try it with a different USB cable.

[slibert]

Originally Posted by marshall

Is this a Windows system? The NavX should show up as a COM device. My best guess from your description is that the USB cable you are using doesn't support data and just does power but I could be wrong.

Scott Libert (Of NavX fame) is competing with his team this weekend so I don't think you'll get an official response until next week but I would try it with a different USB cable.

When you run the navX-MXP setup the drivers are installed, at which point the board shows up as a COM port when plugged in via USB. *Be sure that you run the install as administrator otherwise depending upon your system security settings the drivers may fail to install.*

[DKolberg]

A new cable worked. Thank you all for your help.

[cjl2625]

I'm still having issues with the gyro unexpectedly dying on me (see my post on the last page).
I've made sure that the firmware is updated, and I've tried various means of communication (serial, spi, usb serial), but the problem remains.

Any ideas?

[slibert]

Originally Posted by cjl2625

I'm still having issues with the gyro unexpectedly dying on me (see my post on the last page).
I've made sure that the firmware is updated, and I've tried various means of communication (serial, spi, usb serial), but the problem remains.

Any ideas?

- Please send a photo of your config
- When things fail, are the green S1 and S2 LEDs lit?
- Please email support@kauailabs.com and we'll arrange to send you a new board, in case the one you are using has failed somehow.

[slibert]

Kauai Labs will be attending World Championships in St. Louis April 27 - 30 this year, and would be happy to meet with any teams having questions about the navX-MXP and navX-Micro sensors. Our goal is to support all of our customers in any way possible.

If you'd like to schedule a meeting, please send me a personal message on ChiefDelphi, or send a note to support@kauailabs.com.

[rich2202]

Originally Posted by slibert

Kauai Labs will be attending World Championships in St. Louis April 27 - 30 this year.

Our backup NavX board decided to take siesta's whenever it wants to. I hope you are bringing some NavX boards to Champs (2 were available on your website). We would like to buy one from you in St. Louis.

The NavX on the Competition Robot in the Crate should be working, but we would feel better if we had a backup for the critical component.

[slibert]

Originally Posted by rich2202

Our backup NavX board decided to take siesta's whenever it wants to. I hope you are bringing some NavX boards to Champs (2 were available on your website). We would like to buy one from you in St. Louis.

The NavX on the Competition Robot in the Crate should be working, but we would feel better if we had a backup for the critical component.

Please check your email for details. We will bringing a few boards with us to St. Louis but supplies are very limited due to high demand.

[slibert]

KauaiLabs has just released navX-MXP and navX-Micro Firmware version 2.3.257, which increases the sensor update rate to a blazing fast 100Hz. While hundreds of teams worldwide are very successful with using the navX-MXP at lower frame rates, the new 100Hz framerate support enables even faster response for those teams needing to squeeze as much performance out of their robot as possible.

Please note that in order to use this higher framerate, you'll need to both update your device firmware and also update to the latest RoboRIO libraries in order to achieve the highest possible performance. Both are installed onto your development PC using the latest setup program, available on the navX-MXP software page; after installing the setup program in the downloaded .zip file, then follow the firmware upgrade instructions, then modify your robot application to specify the 100Hz update rate, recompile your robot application.

KauaiLabs will be at FIRST World Championships this week and would be happy to answer any questions on this new feature - please feel free to instant message me if you're interested in meeting with us this week at World Championships.

[rich2202]

If we update the NavX, will it still work with the old code?

Prior year robots use the NavX (we move the NavX from bot to bot), and it is not worth updating their code.

[slibert]

Originally Posted by rich2202

If we update the NavX, will it still work with the old code?

Prior year robots use the NavX (we move the NavX from bot to bot), and it is not worth updating their code.

Yes the navX-MXP firmware is backwards compatible - older robot applications should work exactly the same no mods needed.

It's also forwards compatible - if a robot application is modified to configure navX-MXP for 100Hz updates and is run with a navX-MXP with older firmware, it will run at 66Hz.

[Jonathan L.]

Our team is planning to add a motor and a servo to our robot for state championships (off season). We are already using 9 of the 10 PWM channels on the roboRIO for motors and servos so we need to use one or two of the PWM channels on the navX for a motor and/or servo.

To my understanding the "IO" channels on the navX can be used for PWM (motors or servos) or Digital Input/Output by simply opening the reference to the the desired MXP channel with the appropriate VI for the desired signal type (we are using LabVIEW).

The only thing we're not sure of, is which pin on the IO ports is ground, power, and signal.

Please let us know if we are off track on any of the above.