Split topic - How many channels can the current (2004) Oi's and Rc's Handle?

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Official 2005 Hint Thread

So the current RC and OI can handle 12 channels?

One for each robot, and one for a field controller for each robot.
Unless I am mistaken. I am think along these lines. Where the IFI OI, RC, and radio pack is defined as:

24. A method for controlling a robot competition within an arena having a plurality of robots engaged in competition therein, said method comprising:installing at least one device for engagement by contestants of the robot competition; allocating, by the at least one device, a plurality of channels for communication of signals to the robots during the robot competition; assigning a unique channel to each contestant engaging the at least one device; and conducting the robot competition with the engaged contestants.
25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the at least one device is an arena controller

Or would it be 7, One for each robot, and one for 1 field controller for everyone.


Above quote source is provided by doing THIS.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

So the current RC and OI can handle 12 channels?

The current control system has 40 channels.

One for each robot, and one for a field controller for each robot.

The field controllers don't require any radio channels.

[MikeDubreuil]

The current Innovation FIRST radios can support 40 channels. 5 channels are user selectable and 35 are set aside for competition use.

Taken from the Radio page at the IFI website.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

The current control system has 40 channels.

Does that mean we could potentially have 40 robots on the field at the same time with no mixing of frequencies?

[MikeDubreuil]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Does that mean we could potentially have 40 robots on the field at the same time with no mixing of frequencies?

Yes and No. At most regionals with only 1 field yes, you could have 40 robots at a time running with little to no data loss.

The channel issue becomes a problem when you go to nationals and many fields can be running at one time. The fields are also close enough in proximity that it would not be possible to re-use channels.

It's important to note that your robot will not respond to another teams Operator Interface. Your team number is entered at both the Operator Interface and Robot Controller and is used to filter bad radio data. However, if both teams were using the same channel it could result in some loss in data causing erratic problems with robot command and control.

Given the current radios, it is possible to have 5 fields at nationals with 6 robots on each field simultaneously.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Does that mean we could potentially have 40 robots on the field at the same time with no mixing of frequencies?

In theory, yes. In practice, not really. Some experimentation that we've done with the radio modems shows that if two radios are on adjacent channels they will interfere with each other. Assigning consecutive channels to robots on the same field would likely lead to intermittent data links (and thus erratic robot behavior). Plus, I imagine that when IFI sets up a competition, they try to stay away from the 5 channels that are user-selectable in case someone happens to be using one of those channels in the pits.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

It is important at this point to remind everyone that you may not use radio control in the pits at any competition. What interference you can cause may ultimately result in personal injury so use the tether everywhere except when on the field.