ik this can sound kinda dumb but i realy dont know 
this is my rookie year, and i been questioning myself about the matches, when we enter the arena, we previosly upload the code in to the robot, then what? it automatically sets up the Driver Station or do we need do enable something?
Unsure about the technical, but my understanding is code is on rio and laptop. Radio on the robot is flashed to the comp. You plug in an ethernet cable into the laptop, then the coms and code run through the ethernet to FDA where it is wirelessed to the radio.
No problem at all competition can be a new experience with a lot of differences from shop use.
Assuming you have reasonably up to date software versions there is no need to change code at competition.
You will need to reprogram you radio at competition which will restrict your wireless access only to the field. So bring a long Ethernet cable or USB A (having both is ideal)
For clarification, do you mean robot code or something else? Teams generally dont try to update their robot code unless it is supposed to fix something or maybe introduce a new auton path.
Adding to this, when the radio is in ācompetition modeā, you cannot use wireless control when not on the field. You must be tethered from your driver station laptop to the robot for control anywhere else (pits, practice field, even at home).
You should only reset back to (i think home) mode when you have left the competition.
I mean the software versions must meet the required version specified by the inspection checklist. I only mention this as sometimes this could involve a new RIO version or something that could force a redeploy and it is always good practice to check your versions before competition.
You bring your radio to the score table next to the field, and someone there will upload info to your radio that will allow your robot to connect to the field when itās your match.
Okay, Iām not entirely an expert but hereās my understanding of it.
This is true! The first day of comp, every team has to flash their radio to that event. When you flash it, the radio only connects wirelessly to FMS (the field), which is why teams take either a really long ethernet cable (or USB A) to ātetherā the robot for use in the practice fields or deploying code (hopefully you donāt need to do this.)
Thereās an ethernet cable in every driver station on the field. While your other team members place your robot on the field, you connect the ethernet cable to your computer, and it tries to find the team number you set the driver station as for this match. If that number is in the match, FMS tries to connect with your robot and makes sure you are in the right driver station. (I.e. if in qualifiers your position is at Red 1, but you connect your laptop to Red 2ās cable, the driver station will tell you to connect with the Red 1ās cable instead.)
Itāll then use the code currently deployed on the Roborio for the match (like autonomous, teleop, etc.)
Having your first competition can be a bit nerve wracking, but it will be a fun experience! Just remember:
Also do this!
FTAA Here. Iām trying to understand what you mean by āPre-Matchā. From what Iām reading, it seems you donāt understand how the field works with your robot when your radio is flashed at the comp.
Like you said here:
This is exactly what the FMS does. You are hardwired into the FMS and the FMS handles the robot ā DS communication for you. It enforces the bandwidth limit, max code execution time, and more.
The field doesnāt touch your robotās code at all. It merely serves as a container to run it ā what your code does is up to your robot. The field will only stop your robot if it threatens the safety or some other circumstance where your robot gets disabled (e.g breaking a game rule)
THIS. This is the source for so many FMS issues, as the field and windows donāt play around nicely. Thank you for mentioning this 
If you have any more questions, please donāt hesitate to ask, and have a great season!
My pleasure!
We learned the hard way why it can be dangerous to make changes to code during an event (flashback to our driver having to fight a swerve wheel that moved in the exact opposite direction of the rest of our swerve)
As my programming mentor once said:
āDo not mess with swerve. It will mess with you backā
It did, in fact, mess with us back by completely ignoring our swerve config for a match. That was fun 
This 1000000%
2022 FNC, Asheville. Finals one and two. You will see our robot drive for one to two seconds then stop. Lost comms and couldnāt get them back. FMS was dumbfounded after the first one. Said there is no reason it would happen, so we would just start the second match. Happened again.
About a week after, we found out windows defender didnāt like the Driver Station, and was shutting it down.
Turn off those firewalls
Yeah, thatās the thing FIRST ran into when developing the DS, even if you codesign a program for Windows, it still has the off-chance of being blocked by Defender or other AVs. I took a closer look and it seems like the DSes signature gets flagged by some random ātrojanā??? in defenderās database. Itās so weird.
Nearly every event Iāve been to/CSAād at, the radio kiosk(s) have been set up near inspection or spare parts, not field-side
When you are in your pits you deploy the code you want to run onto your robot then power off the bot. When the robot is powered up on the field it will run the last code deployed to it (the code from the pits). Then you plug an ethernet cable supplied at your driver station into your laptop which allows your driver station to communicate with your robot.
In districts, including FiM field side radio configuration is common, unlike in regionals.
Hereās my short list of things for you, as both a mentor, FTAA, and CSA:
But my most important advice: Reach out to a CSA early, let them know itās your first event, and ask for help. If you do this first thing the CSA may well have more time to help you get familiar with the competition environment and setup. If you have any trouble, ask for their help. (In terms of software and connectivity)
My last piece of advice: Compeition can be overwhelming. When things donāt go to plan it can be stressful, but FIRST competitions are a different environment. We all want to see everyone compete to their potential, and you will find friendly faces surrounding your pit often willing to help. They are other teams, but thatās the spirit of Gracious Professionalism.
Iāve done several New England district events and donāt remember it being field-side. Might just be more of a Michigan thing.
When you get back home, your robot wonāt work via WiFi, your robot radio will still have the fieldās FMS encryption key. You must re-init it.
Consider this: āOur ābot worked at competition, we can take it to the demo tomorrow without testing it.ā
Your ābot wonāt work, and youāll look like fools.
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.