Last min suggestions on Robot controller issue?

[Rombus]

So our regional at buckeye has been plagued by robot controller issues. First we had an issue where all the lights went out and only the programme state LED was flashing green. After talking with the innovation first rep, he suggested trying to use the default code and if the issue was still there we would have to put in a loaner RC.

Well after some bloody knuckles and some hard work for 45 min, we had replaced the RC. The loner we were issued was a 2004 RC. Luckily our code fit fine, and we got though about 4 matches without any issues but code tweaking. On our 3rd match, we got flipped over and came down hard on our camera and bent up our camera shield frame and just a bit of the camera frame. Everything seemed fine afterward after rebending and we went though the next match without issue.

When i got back with lunch, the programming team complained that the camera was no longer tracking. After doing all the obvious checks, i found that we had a solid yellow light on "RC Hardware" that i think was affecting our entire 5V line. According to the Innovation first rep at buckeye, that light indicated a short in the 5v circuit. Well, i double checked everything, pulled anything connected to the 5v ports, and still got the same lights. i talked to the IFI Guy again and the only other things he could suggest was either pulling the RC out and he could check it for any metal that might have worked its way in, or we replace the RC again.

Now here is the rub: our first match tomorrow is 9:45am, so i don't think ill have time to do anything with the RC to fix this problem. So is there any other things that anyone can suggest to look for? Ive blown out and vacuumed the board, and checked all my cables for any short and found none.

I'm willing to try anything! Just make the suggestion! Thanks!

[JBotAlan]

Pull EVERYTHING. All of it. Plug in the 12 volts plus and minus, make sure it's the right polarity (red = + ), make sure the battery you use is fully charged, and see if you get the light. If you still have a 5v low, the RC is toast...otherwise it's somewhere in something you wired, probably in the camera. I take it you're at the Great Lakes Regional? If so, if you can't figure it out and I'm not too frantic, you can swing by 68's pit and I can try my best to fix it.

Good luck,
JBotAlan (Jake)

[devicenull]

Two words: Metal Shavings.

A good 90% of the time we have had the +5 low problem, we found metal shavings somewhere in the pins.. You really need to pull all the cables out, and get in there with a good flashlight.. I'm not sure if a large magnet would hurt the RC?

Quick story: About 6 months after we finished up at Nationials, we were doing a demo somewhere.. Got the 5v low light, and all the sensors stopped working. A few minutes later, I pulled a metal shaving out of the Relay pins. How it got there, I don't have a clue.

Point of the story is to check for metal shavings even if you haven't done work on the robot for a while.

[eugenebrooks]

Originally Posted by Rombus

So our regional at buckeye has been plagued by robot controller issues.
<<snip>>
I'm willing to try anything! Just make the suggestion! Thanks!

Would the battery voltage on the OI display, when you select it,
happen to be showing 8.2 or 8.3?

[Rombus]

First thanks for the help:
No we are at Buckeye regional, Thanks for offering to help though, ill try to get to the pit as early as possble tommrow and pull eveything

I did try to see any metal shavings, and it looked clean, but ill double check.

As for 8.2/8.3, i never checked, mainly because i assumed it was on my end and not on the control, ill be sure to check tommrow though

[eugenebrooks]

Originally Posted by Rombus

First thanks for the help:
No we are at Buckeye regional, Thanks for offering to help though, ill try to get to the pit as early as possble tommrow and pull eveything

I did try to see any metal shavings, and it looked clean, but ill double check.

As for 8.2/8.3, i never checked, mainly because i assumed it was on my end and not on the control, ill be sure to check tommrow though

The "8.2 battery voltage bug" is hitting teams using the camera,
or other sophisticated programming methods, like the plague.
Refer to this thread:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=45156
or this thread
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=44954
for measures to take to attempt a workaround for the problem.
If it patches your problem, we want to know...

[Rombus]

Well, i went over eveything with a fine tooth comb and a flashlight (something i didnet have yesterday) And i found a tiny metal sliver that had shorted the pins wedged in such a way that made it almost impossbile to see without alot of light and was wedged in the pins where it would not come out with the weak air compressor and vac we had at the pit.

So thanks for the help again everyone! It solved our camera problems slightly, i think more of our issue was either with the TTL chip (Loose connectons) or the camera (loose pwm connection)

I wonder if i could some how take a bit of spare plastic or rubber and build some custom covers for the unused pins.

[devicenull]

Originally Posted by eugenebrooks

The "8.2 battery voltage bug" is hitting teams using the camera,
or other sophisticated programming methods, like the plague.
Refer to this thread:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=45156
or this thread
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=44954
for measures to take to attempt a workaround for the problem.
If it patches your problem, we want to know...

Disabling GPR15 fixed it for us.. for details, check the IFI website.