Radio cuts out, student's foot run over

[eugenebrooks]

Problems with the robot not correctly disabling motors when the radio signal is corrupted have (hopefully) been addressed with new beta test versions of the master code. If you are running the latest master code, and still have these problems, make sure you report it to IFI. They are looking for these reports. It is a good idea to pay careful attention to your radio setup, even without these problems, in that radio glitches would normally cause intermittent robot disablement. Keep track of any posted updates to this master code and install them as they are available.

To minimize radio connection problems (hiding any remaining disablement glitches), make sure that:
1) Your radio is placed as high as you can.
2) Your radio is mounted on plastic about a half wavelength away (5 to 6 inches) from any metal structure on your robot.
3) Your radio will not be shadowed by any large metal panels or closely spaced wire grids. If it is shadowed, the reliability might suffer when the robot is oriented so that the metal panel is interposed between the OI and the RC radio modems.

On the OI end, if you mount the radio on a wall, make sure that this wall is not a conducting surface such as metal. The best place for this antenna is in "free space," well clear of metal surfaces (except for a table that it might be sitting on).

If you continue to have problems while on the radio, make sure that you report these problems to IFI and use the tether while testing your robot until the problems are resolved.

All of the interference effects involved when a metal surface is near the antenna is one of the wonders of nature, but you don't want to be exploring these with your robot.

Eugene