Watchdog

[JBotAlan]

If it's in reference to what I think it is, you are referring to the watchdog timer in our robot controller.

Basically, our user processor has to get data from the master processor when it comes in, and the user processor has to spit the new data outputs (to the motors, Spike relays, etc.) to the master processor. If the user code takes too long between grabbing data and spitting it back, the "watchdog" timer freezes our processor and flashes the "Code Error" light--it's red, so it's known as the "red light of death".

The user code doesn't have to do anything special to use the watchdog timer; it's just there--a feature of the IFI-proprietary master code loaded on the robot controller. We don't turn it on or off or set the delay; it's just there. If you're programming in easyC, don't worry about a thing. If you're programming in MPLAB, try not to put for loops or other extremely time-consuming tasks in your code, and if you do, make sure to thoroughly test it before trusting it.

Don't worry about the watchdog timer; it'll only shut your code down if you've written code that takes too long to execute.

And if you need more help, as always, post back and we'll try to help.

JBot