[FTC]: FTC Software Requirements

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

Richard, did someone tell you that the older master code will prevent your robot from working with the field? That seems unlikely given the way the Vex robots work - I assumed the newer master code was more related to correct operation of autonomous mode.

Originally Posted by Richard

Correct operation of autonomous mode is the issue. We saw a few robots with incorrect master code that entered auto mode at the wrong time; i.e., after it was over and the referees were trying to record the auto mode scores. (This happened during morning practice rounds.)

However, this disruption may have been caused by other factors such as incomplete electrical connections to the field control system, or incorrectly inserted crystals. We'll set up some tests under controlled conditions and report what we find, probably later this week.

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

This is off-topic but it's probably a good thing for people to know. Unlike FRC, the Vex field control system does not control autonomous mode. The only thing the field controller does is turn the Vex transmitter on or off. Autonomous operation is handled entirely within the Vex RC. What they've done is set up the Vex RC so that it operates autonomously for the first 20 seconds, and then goes into driver control mode. So, if you're seeing robots go into autonomous mode when they shouldn't, you can be nearly certain that it's a problem with the robot. For instance, I believe if the Vex RC resets for any reason it will re-enter autonomous. Perhaps the robots you saw had low batteries and that was causing their robots to reset?

As I understand it, when the Vex robot is powered on, it waits until it sees a signal from the transmitter (any transmitter that is on the right frequency - the team number is not part of the signal like it is in FRC). Once it sees this signal it will begin autonomous mode, and I think it will continue until the 20 seconds is up (even if the transmitter signal goes away). Because of this, we've seen problems where the Vex robots will take off in autonomous mode even when the team's transmitter is disabled by the control system and the cause ends up being that someone else had a transmitter on the same frequency and that triggered the robot to start moving. Thus it is really important to make sure that teams are not operating wirelessly when they shouldn't be.

This corrolates with my experience at a tournament. Two teams had problems with erratic operations, including one who specifically said it was switching into auto part way through teleoperated mode; this happened on several of their rounds. We concluded the problem had to be with their robot, as the other 15 teams had no problems. Unfortunately I have no means of finding which version of code they were running.

We did have an issue where crystals may have been the reason for erratic behavior in another match; it was replayed.

Interference from another team was unlikely, as the pits were in a different room across the hall. Is there any evidence of cell phone interference?