Robot Arm Victor Motor

[Robby Unruh]

Our team's mechanical engineer insist's our arm not working is a program error. I don't think so, so I just want to double check here.

Victor arm;

public void robotMain() {
    arm = new Victor(10);
}

public void operatorControl() {
    while(isOperatorControl()) {
        getWatchdog().setEnabled(true);
        getWatchdog().feed();

        if(joy.getRawButton(10)) {
            arm.set(-0.2); // arm goes down.
        } else if(joy.getRawButton(11)) {
            arm.set(0.2); // arm goes up.
        }
    }
}

[Joe Ross]

Can you describe what the problem with the arm is? Just looking at the code, once the arm starts moving, the arm will always be moving in one direction or the other, which might not be desirable.

[Robototes2412]

public void operatorControl() {
    while(isOperatorControl()) {
        getWatchdog().setEnabled(true);
        getWatchdog().feed();

        if(joy.getRawButton(10)) {
            arm.set(-0.2); // arm goes down.
        } else if(joy.getRawButton(11)) {
            arm.set(0.2); // arm goes up.
        } else {
            arm.set(0);
        }
    }
}

Did you check the pwm?

[Robby Unruh]

Sorry, I mean the arm doesn't move at all.
It is plugged in to channel 10.

[Patrickwhite]

Can you show us where you initialize arm? That may be the problem.

[Robby Unruh]

Originally Posted by Patrickwhite

Can you show us where you initialize arm? That may be the problem.

All arm-related code is given above. It is initalized in the robotMain function.

[Joe Ross]

Here's a number of non-code related things that could cause a motor not to move:

You didn't enable the robot on the driver station
You didn't plug the PWM cables from the victor to the digital sidecar PWM ports
The PWM cable missed the connector inside the shroud on the victor (this is very easy to do).
You didn't power the digital sidecar
The digital sidecar isn't plugged into the digital module in slot 4 of the cRIO
You have the PWM cables plugged in backwards. B is for black wire.
You have the PWM cables plugged into the wrong PWM ports on the digital sidecar.
The circuit breaker is immediately tripping.
The speed controller isn't powered.
The motor isn't connected to the speed controller.

Knowing what the LED is doing on the speed controller would help narrow down the problem

[Robby Unruh]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

You didn't enable the robot on the driver station
You didn't plug the PWM cables from the victor to the digital sidecar PWM ports
The PWM cable missed the connector inside the shroud on the victor (this is very easy to do).
You didn't power the digital sidecar
The digital sidecar isn't plugged into the digital module in slot 4 of the cRIO
You have the PWM cables plugged in backwards. B is for black wire.
You have the PWM cables plugged into the wrong PWM ports on the digital sidecar.
The circuit breaker is immediately tripping.
The speed controller isn't powered.
The motor isn't connected to the speed controller.

We covered the majority of those grounds last night. We plan on re-checking today after school.

However, the motor is getting power, and is blinking orange.

[drakesword]

Are you sure you are pushing "Button 10 and Button 11"?

For laughs and tickles try using the joystick value to eliminate any posability that it is the mechanical/elecrtical problems.

x2 on checking the connection of the pwm cable.

I hated redoing pwm cables on the victors they always seem to not go into the header when you need it to!

[Jared Russell]

Blinking orange on the Victor suggests a problem with the PWM cable connection (or you never initialized "arm").

[Robby Unruh]

Originally Posted by Jared341

Blinking orange on the Victor suggests a problem with the PWM cable connection (or you never initialized "arm").

In the actual code we had only done:

Victor arm = new Victor(10);

outside of robotMain. Could that actually be the problem? I never thought it mattered.

[Jared Russell]

Originally Posted by Robby Unruh

...and is blinking orange.

To me, this remains the most conspicuous clue. A blinking orange speed controller is one that does not have a working connection to a properly configured PWM port on the digital sidecar. Be absolutely, positively sure your PWM connector is fully seated at both ends.