Serious Problem of Unknown Origin

[Team865]

Hi,

We have a problem of unknown origin. Everything was working fine with our robot. However, when we uploaded code for the timer, the motors no longer spun at full capacity. They spun about one-fiftieth of a revolution each half-second. We reverted our code (by commenting out all newly-written code) to a state in which it was working before. Unfortunately, this did not resolve the problem. The motors still spun at an infinitesimal fraction of the speed that they were spinning at before. We uploaded the default code from our backup, but the motors still behaved like before. Here are the symptoms and the results of various tests we conducted:

• The motors reacted correctly to stimuli from the joystick. When the joystick was pushed forward, the gears spun clockwise, and when the joystick was pulled back, the gears spun counterclockwise.
  
• When the joystick is neutral, the LED on the Victor is orange. When the joystick is moved off neutral, the LED flashes orange, but never turns green or red like it used to.
  
• We tried a different Victor 884, but with the same results.
  
• All LEDs on the Robot Controller were flashing green. We tried an RC from a previous year, but everything was the same.
  
• Periodically the motors would spin at the original speed, for about 1 second, so we're pretty sure that the motors are working fine (it would be a coincidence if both failed, and in the same fashion, simultaneously).
  
• We've tried replacing the fuse, but once again same thing.
  
• When the joystick is moved, on the terminal window, strangely, this message is printed: "IFI>IFI 2006 User Processor Initialized". Why does this happen? Shouldn't this message only be printed upon program initialization?
  
• We tried testing connections and wiring with a voltmeter. All connections were giving power. The input to the Victors read about 11 volts. The output from the Victors to the motors gave a reading of approximately 0.1 - 0.9 volts. Is this what others are getting?
  
• We tried a different power supply feeding in 12 volts, with no change.
  

What could possibly be the problem? If anybody has experienced a similar condition, please respond. We have tried everything we could, but still have not been able to identify the cause or location of this problem.

Thank you for your concern!

- Team 865