bridge/cRio communications sporadic

[PaulRevere]

Team 3183 is (was?) having a very similar issue. Our robot network was fine until yesterday, when it randomly started to have stuttering video feed from our camera, even when our robot was disabled. We then enabled the robot, and our DS threw countless “Watchdog Not Fed!” errors. Along with that, our compressor’s Spike was cycling on/off like mad because the code kept being aborted and resumed at a rapid pace (every time the cRIO lost communication with our DS, it would stop the program, and resume it as soon as it saw our DS again [less than a sec. later]) In addition, when this was occurring, our RSL seemed to be indicating the correct status (disabled or enabled) but due to the cycling being so rapid, it was VERY hard to tell. We tried to drive the robot with this, and (to no surprise) we had very little to no control over it. (Which was to be expected when the code kept stopping.) After about a dozen of this cycling, the DS would just say “no robot communication”, indicating that it no longer could see the robot. After maybe 8 seconds or so, the communications link would be back up, and we could do the same thing. We disconnected our Bridge from the cRIO’s Ethernet port (#1), and tethered the robot to our router, and it was fine. But, if we switched back to wireless, it resulted in the same thing. (Code aborts, stuttering video, etc.) This morning, one of our programmers tried the wireless again, still to no avail. He then turned off the robot, went over to get a drink, came back, turned on the robot, and low and behold, the wireless link was fine! Camera worked, no watchdog errors, and he could drive it with no issue. We’re at a loss for the reason behind this. Our biggest concern is that if this happens during a match, it could be the difference between losing a regional Qualifier, or going to Atlanta. (Not to mention, we didn’t try to E-Stop it during this problem, so even if our RSL was in fact saying the right thing, we don’t know if our Robot will even care about being E-Stop’d. (Especially if the code keeps restarting itself, as it wouldn’t know the difference between an E-Stop, or a “go” from FMS (not sure how this would play out with FMS thrown in, but using our DS, we don’t know. (not tested.))

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by PaulRevere

We disconnected our Bridge from the cRIO’s Ethernet port (#1), and tethered the robot to our router, and it was fine. But, if we switched back to wireless, it resulted in the same thing. (Code aborts, stuttering video, etc.) This morning, one of our programmers tried the wireless again, still to no avail. He then turned off the robot, went over to get a drink, came back, turned on the robot, and low and behold, the wireless link was fine!

Please describe for us how you have power connected to the Bridge on your robot. Might the plug be slightly loose? Might the wires have an intermittent open where they are inserted into the white Wago connector, or perhaps even an intermittent short across them?

[PaulRevere]

Thanks for the fast response Alen! We have our Bridge connected directly to our Power Distribution board, using the Wago connector. We’ve removed and seated the Wago connector into the Power Distribution Board, and reinserted the wires into the Wago connector. I doubt it’s a power issue, as the bridge never reboots. (Like the Power, Wireless, and Link LEDs never go out.) Though the link/act light DOES stop flashing when these communication losses occurs. (This would indicate that there was no network traffic being passed over the Bridge.)

[jhersh]

Originally Posted by PaulRevere

Thanks for the fast response Alen! We have our Bridge connected directly to our Power Distribution board, using the Wago connector. We’ve removed and seated the Wago connector into the Power Distribution Board, and reinserted the wires into the Wago connector. I doubt it’s a power issue, as the bridge never reboots. (Like the Power, Wireless, and Link LEDs never go out.) Though the link/act light DOES stop flashing when these communication losses occurs. (This would indicate that there was no network traffic being passed over the Bridge.)

Make sure you don't have any other part of the robot close to the front of the gaming adapter. If the "security" button gets pressed it will disconnect from the access point. We saw this with a number of teams last year.

-Joe