New Control System Problems

[rsisk]

As the others have said, carefully read the instructions, and then read them again, and maybe one more time, then follow them through in a dry run. All the information is there, you just have to follow it.

Then make sure you have ChiefDelphi up on one of your computers when you need help ;>

If you have a chance to attend training like ChrisH is offering above, take it.

[JohnBoucher]

How much time should the entire setup take? I suspect we should do it in one session if possible.

[tdlrali]

If you install LabVIEW on a computer beforehand, the setup and the bench tests takes ~3-4 hours.

Here's an approximate breakdown, with plenty of slack:
Unboxing, wiring: 2h
Bench tests: 1h
Updating cRIO and DS (+setting team number) : .5h
Configuring the bridge, router, and camera: .5h

A lot of these can be done simultaneously if you know what you're doing (updating cRIO and DS at the same, configuring wireless at the same time), so you can save some time.

We made the mistake of not installing the software beforehand, though. On top of that, we had an old version of LabVIEW installed. The uninstalling took over an hour, and the reinstalling ran for a good two hours. We only had a three hour meeting on our first day with the cRIO, so we did everything beyond updating the DS on the next day since we did not have LabVIEW ready to update the cRIO. If we had installed LabVIEW beforehand, we could've finished the entire thing in our three hour meeting.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by tdlrali

A lot of these can be done simultaneously if you know what you're doing (updating cRIO and DS at the same, configuring wireless at the same time), so you can save some time.

Key words are "if you know what you're doing ."

But if this is your first time through setup don't try to do this.

I don't care if you are the worlds greatest expert in computers, networking and the cRIO, shortcuts will cause you nothing but trouble.

"Shortcuts make long delays." Frodo Baggins

[ExarKun666]

Okay I have a second question, now. Since the kickoff is nearing, and our school is on winter break, and the lead mentor of the team decided that our only meeting over the 2 week break was going to be on Jan 3rd (kickoff). Should we wait to put the new control system on the new robot, or go ahead and install it on our old robot and test it?

[keen101]

Should we wait to put the new control system on the new robot, or go ahead and install it on our old robot and test it?

it doesn't matter. I recommend trying to get driving working as soon as possible, so yeah try to put it on an old robot if you have access to it.

there are NI labview tutorials, but they are rather boring. You can still find them at www.ni.com/first though.

But, i recommend these video's instead. I find them better.

http://www.lvmastery.com/files/FIRST..._Part1(2).html

(this one starts out a little boring, but has some useful info for part2,
and is still much less boring than the official NI video's)

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http://www.lvmastery.com/files/First...c12_Part2.html

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http://www.lvmastery.com/files/First...12_Part3b.html

[Robert Cawthon]

Originally Posted by keen101

it doesn't matter. I recommend trying to get driving working as soon as possible, so yeah try to put it on an old robot if you have access to it.

As an alternative, you could mount everything on a piece of plywood with small motors to simulate your drive wheels and test it that way. You could continue to build the "Breadboard" with sensors and relays as your design for the new robot grows. That way, you aren't interfering with the build and most things should work when it is moved over to the bot. (You also don't need to disassemble your old bot.)