Buttons on Joystick

[helenajoy]

Just a quick simple question -
Is the code attatched done correctly? The false area in both of the case structures are completely blank.

I want it so that Button One will accuate solenoid and basically kick. Then, I want Button Two to bring the kicker back in when it is pressed.

When this code is running, the Joystick on the Driver Station Diagnostics tab lights blue. Does this mean that the code is reading the buttons or just that it will light blue no matter what button is pressed.

Right now, the code is not working and doesn't seem to be controlling the solenoids at all.

Also, our compressor doesn't seem to be the problem. I placed the compressor code within Periodic Tasks and it does work.

[helenajoy]

Also - this is the way I opened the solenoids in the Begin.

[Mark McLeod]

Are you using a double solenoid or two single solenoids?

One issue with the code is that the solenoids cannot work in opposition to each other. If you turn one on, then at the same time you should be turning the other off.
They have to be changed to False at some point.

Also, the compressor code doesn't go in periodic tasks, but whatever you've done is obviously not hurting. The compressor is started in Begin and then left alone.

The Open looks fine.

[helenajoy]

We are using a double solenoid to control our kicker.

And, I tried to leave the compressor in just the open and finish but it didn't seem to do anything. Once I placed it into Periodic Tasks, the compressor started...compressing. Also, another school reccomended it so I hope it isn't that that is messing with the solenoids.

Hm, I changed it so that the solenoids turn off when another is turned on but it didn't seem to make a difference...

Could it be a solenoid wiring issue? I've run the Solenoid with Compressor example from LabView - the compressor works. When I click the Solenoid button on the Front Panel, a LED on the CRIO module in slot 8 lights up. However, nothing actually...happens to the solenoids.

[helenajoy]

Hmm,

I just highlighted execution as I was running the code.
The Teleop seems to be in the init loop. Isn't it supposed to be in Execute? Or is this normal? =/

[Greg McKaskle]

Hilight execution runs the code about 10,000,000 times slower than normal, so you may notice things that are normally just a blip. The init code runs once, then the normal execute runs for each packet. Finally, before going to another state, the Finalize state (whatever it is called) is called once.

Greg McKaskle

[Mark McLeod]

When your code is working correctly, you should see two of the LEDs on the cRIO module in slot 8 working. One should light while the other is off and vice versa. You probably need to set the initial state in Begin.vi as well, but they default to Off, so they'll begin as both LEDs off.

If those lights are working, then move on to checking the wiring.
One solenoid side of your double is wired to Solenoid Breakout pin(s) 1 and the other side to pin(s) 2.


The compressor probably isn't messing up the solenoids.
Normally, in Begin.vi, we do an Open Compressor, then a Start Compressor, then the Refnum. The Start is actually a periodic task all it's own and continues to run the entire time your code is active.

[helenajoy]

We have managed to get the Solenoid with Compressor example working.

We've also gotten the solenoid to accuate but we are having difficulties making the second solenoid do the release.

Also - in the Begin, we've noticed a strange discrepency. In this year's template, we need to use the Solenoid VI that has the number sign and an arrow, yes? When we double click on that VI and view the front panel, we notice that some of the settings such as Solenoid Channel or Refnum name change.

We have two solenoids opening in begin and it seems that...when we double click one of the Solenoid VIs with the number sign/arrow we open the same front panel that we would get if we double clicked the other Solenoid VI with the number sign/arrow. They don't seem to be two independent things even though the Block Diagram in Begin seems to distinguish them seperately.

[Mark McLeod]

Sorry, I've taken so long. I had a nice dinner and a productive night in the shop.

The Solenoid Refnum vi is actually the same vi no matter how many times you see it pasted onto the block diagram. So it's really only getting called once at a time.
It is just making an entry for solenoids in a registry of all open devices. What you initially see in the various fields are just the default values. When the code actually executes those default values get overridden by the inputs you gave to the Open, e.g., the name you chose and the particular solenoid pin number, etc.

There is an option under File -> VI Properties that allows you to make a vi reentrant. That means every time you paste it into the code you get a different unique copy of it. Then those reentrant copies do run independently of each other. We use that for when we have to preserve unique data stored inside the vi between calls and don't want it being called in another place and replacing the data we've preserved in the vi. For instance, if you make a vi that ramps up the speed of a motor and you want to use it for both the drive motors and for an arm motor. You'd be calling it every time you came back into Teleop, but you wouldn't want the last arm motor speed to get mixed up with the last drive motor speed when you ramp up one more step.

[pm 2389]

is there any way to control a motor with a button using labview.

[helenajoy]

Both solenoids work (when tested one at a time) on the Solenoid with Compressor example code perfectly.

In our Teleop, we have coded it in such a way that pressing Button One should accuate the solenoid. We have also changed the code so that the Button's T/F value is directly wired into a Solenoid set rather than using a case structure. However, we have had no success with that.

We also are not seeing the proper LED lighting on the 9472 module. But the Solenoid breakout indicator does light up.

(The compressor works beatifully though! )

So, we definitely know that it is not the solenoid wiring because the examples work just fine...But our code looks okay as well. Our programming is definitely at a loss right now. Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Edit - some added information:

We have placed a Solenoid Set in the Begin VI and have set the value to True. When we do this, both of our Solenoids (accuate and retract) work and the appropriate LEDs light up on the 9472 module. The strange thing is - the 7/8 LEDs are lit up both on our Driver Station Dashboard and on the 9472 module even though we haven't coded anything in these two areas.

[helenajoy]

Okay, so we no longer thing that solenoids are the problem. Like I said, the solenoids work in the example. Also, our solenoids work in our Autonomous Independent VI.

We are thinking that are problem is with the Teleop VI. When we run the Joystick Input example, we get a reading for all three of our joysticks. We also added code to the Joystick Input Example to indicate when buttons are being pressed. We got a green light whenever we pressed the buttons.

We added an Joystick button indicator within our Teleop and tested it. When we pressed a button on the joystick and viewed the Teleop Front Panel, the indicator does not turn green.

[Mark McLeod]

If it's Teleop and not Auto, then I think you're right to look at the joysticks.
Double check the USB selections for your joysticks and the names given each of them. Even an extra space will make the name unique and not reference the joystick correctly.

[helenajoy]

We have just checked the joysticks as well. We have tested them and have made sure that they are in the proper USBs. And we have made sure that the names are exactly the same. When we run our Teleop, we get a Watchdog Not Fed message. We are not sure where in the code we need to feed the Watchdog or what we are doing wrong that is starving the Watchdog.

[helenajoy]

Yay! We've finally figured out our problem!

We figured out that it was actually electronic problems with the camera that were holding us up. Since it wasn't wired properly, the Watchdog stopped our code.

Thanks, everybody!