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Unread 09-02-2010, 16:02
Sharmandra Sharmandra is offline
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Compressor

Having a compressor problem, I'll try to post as much relevant information as possible, if there are any key details I leave out feel free to ask and I will let you know.

Using a Thomas compressor which will not run when I run the robot. If I hook the compressor up directly to the battery, it will run. I have cables running from the power board to the Spike, attaching at the GRD/12V end, with the compressor attached to the M+/- end. When the robot is run, the Spike light lights up orange. The Spike has a PWM cable plugged in so that the white/signal part of the cable is on the side saying 12V, attached to the relay section, in the order white, red, black. I have tried two different Spikes, one with the yellow fuse, and one with the removable black breaker.

Attached to one of the tanks is a pressure switch with red and black cables coming from it. A PWM cable is attached to a Digital I/O slot, the other end is clipped so that the black PWM connects to the black pressure wire, and the white PWM connects to the red pressure wire. The red PWM cable is taped over.

I have tried running both example programs, Compressor with a Cylinder and Solenoid with a Compressor, neither of them will cause the compressor to run, but the CwC code shows that the cylinder is enabled. The robot IS enabled and in Teleop, the IP address is right, and the Digital Sidecar has all the voltage lights lit.

One thing that MAY be significant, in this picture: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...3&d=1265585751

It shows the Relay slots as being the ones next to the one closest to the edge, but on our sidecar that section is filed down, and the slots are in the area the right of the area circled in the image, if that makes sense.

Any help or additional troubleshooting suggestions are immensely appreciated.
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Unread 10-02-2010, 16:50
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Re: Compressor

That picture is incorrect, so you got it right. What is circled are the Relay status LEDs on the Digital Sidecar. One of those should light up when the software orders the compressor to run.

All your hookups sound correct to me.

One place to look is how you are running the examples in the developer account.
Have you Exited the Driver login account, and are you running both LabVIEW and the Driver Station application in the developer account?
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Unread 10-02-2010, 17:19
Sharmandra Sharmandra is offline
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Re: Compressor

Unfortunately due to snow I cannot look at the robot for the next two days, but I don't seem to remember the Relay LEDs lighting up, but as soon as I can I'll check it, if it's NOT lighting up, what would cause that?

As for accounts, I exited it by hitting the Exit button in the setup window on the Driver account, and in Developer mode I run Labview and the Driver station app.
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Unread 10-02-2010, 17:26
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Re: Compressor

I agree, the electrical connections appear correct.

Temporarily disconnect the compressor and use a voltmeter for testing. reverse polarity may make the compressor supremely unhappy.
Also, replace the 20A fuse with a 20A snap breaker from the KoP
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Unread 10-02-2010, 17:33
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Re: Compressor

Yea, we're not in the shop today either. The snow is pretty though...

If the Relay LED corresponding to the Compressor Spike is not lit, then the code isn't ordering the compressor to turn on. With the example code, that LED should go on with only the Pressure Switch wired into DIO 1. Regardless of any other wiring. The Pressure Switch doesn't even have to be tubed to anything.

That'd mean the problem is before your Spike or Compressor wiring.

If that LED is out, then one test would be to use a wire to directly connect the signal and ground pins on DIO 1. That'd take the Pressure Switch out of the loop too, and eliminated it as a culprit.

P.S. Your code execution sounds fine too.
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Last edited by Mark McLeod : 10-02-2010 at 17:54.
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Unread 10-02-2010, 17:39
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Re: Compressor

Don,
The compressor runs in either direction. It is more efficient in the proper direction so the opposite polarity gets it a little hotter than normal.

The orange indicator on the Spike is telling you that both outputs are at battery common. The Spike needs to light either red or green to indicate that the output has 12 volts supplied to a motor.
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Unread 10-02-2010, 17:43
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Re: Compressor

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Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz View Post
The Spike needs to light either red or green to indicate that the output has 12 volts supplied to a motor.
Sharmandra,
Those relay LEDs on the Digital Sidecar will tell what it's ordering the Spike to do, and the Spike indicator light will reflect the Relay LED color. Green for forward and Red for backwards.

So if the relay LED isn't lit, that's why the Spike should remain orange. It's doing what it's been ordered to do.
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Last edited by Mark McLeod : 10-02-2010 at 17:56.
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Unread 10-02-2010, 18:00
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Re: Compressor

I was actually unaware that the Spike turned multiple colors, I thought it was simply a light that turned on to reflect that the Spike it getting power.
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Unread 11-02-2010, 14:03
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Re: Compressor

We are experiencing a very similar problem.

We have code which creates a Compressor object, then calls the start method. It is created with (1,1) as the parameter list. We wait until teleop is enabled to call the start method. At this point the green LED on the Sidecar for relay # one lights up. So far, so good.

However... the amber light on the Spike relay never changes color, and the compressor never runs.

We have a PWM cable running from slot #1 in the relay section of the Sidecar to the input slot on the Spike relay. The black part of the cable is on the common pin at the Sidecar, and under the 'B' on the relay. (We also have wires running from the pressure sensor to slot #1 in the digital I/O section of the Sidecar (since the Sidecar relay light #1 comes on, this is really beside the point, I think. If the relay light is on, then neither the code nor the pressure sensor is the issue, right?))

Since the Spike LED is never changing color, the problem is the control wire or the Spike(?) We have replaced both, with no effect. We have also wired the compressor directly to the power distribution board momentarily just to check it, it runs fine.

What else are we missing?
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Unread 11-02-2010, 14:14
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Re: Compressor

Sounds like you're doing everything right.

If the Relay LED is going on, then you don't have a code problem.
The problem has to be between the Relay output pins and the Spike.

It's possible that the Spike PWM connection isn't being made, since it's down that hole.
Have 3 other people try to make that connection one-at-a-time.

Also examine the connection to the Relay output pins closely. Don't just disconnect and reconnect, but look at it. The PWM connector can be missing the outside pin by accident.
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Last edited by Mark McLeod : 11-02-2010 at 14:20.
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Unread 11-02-2010, 15:30
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Re: Compressor

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakedaimon View Post
We are experiencing a very similar problem.

We have code which creates a Compressor object, then calls the start method. It is created with (1,1) as the parameter list. We wait until teleop is enabled to call the start method. At this point the green LED on the Sidecar for relay # one lights up. So far, so good.

However... the amber light on the Spike relay never changes color, and the compressor never runs.

We have a PWM cable running from slot #1 in the relay section of the Sidecar to the input slot on the Spike relay. The black part of the cable is on the common pin at the Sidecar, and under the 'B' on the relay. (We also have wires running from the pressure sensor to slot #1 in the digital I/O section of the Sidecar (since the Sidecar relay light #1 comes on, this is really beside the point, I think. If the relay light is on, then neither the code nor the pressure sensor is the issue, right?))

Since the Spike LED is never changing color, the problem is the control wire or the Spike(?) We have replaced both, with no effect. We have also wired the compressor directly to the power distribution board momentarily just to check it, it runs fine.

What else are we missing?
This sounds like either a dead spike, or a bad PWM connection to it. The connectors can be a bit finnicky.
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Unread 11-02-2010, 16:58
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Re: Compressor

Or it could be that a moron that does every possible thing the wrong way (me) had the wires in backward at every possible juncture. The compressor is finally running properly, thanks for the help!!!

Of course, now we have to figure out the rest of it.
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Unread 11-02-2010, 17:17
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Re: Compressor

I had a simmilar problem, with the lights not lighting for the relays, and the Spike for the compressor not responding.

I am using labview, I tried using the WPI compressor VI's and with the compressor on Relay1 Port 4 and had no luck, I wrote my own code for the compressor and still no luck. I tried a different side car and the software exhibited the same behavior. Eventually I switched to relay 2 on the same port and now it works great.

I am not sure if we simply have a problem with relay 1 on port 4 of our cRIO, or if this is a symptom of a different problem.

Just figured I would share my experience.

-James
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