Installing Drivers Station

#1

HELP!!!

It looks like the only threads about this are a few years old, so I’m asking for new info…

I have a pre-rookie team, and another team has graciously let us use one of their spare robots for an off-season, but they said we need to provide a laptop with the Driver Station software. Can I load this on a ‘daily use’ computer, or does installing the Driver Station software require a full re-image?

The WPI Library only seems to have some tutorials, but no link to download software. https://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/currentCS/m/driver_station?fbclid=IwAR0D6NKkoD1rWPXaSNMtuBUuixwXaKuaJI0_QHm1G77rfQEunpHMo8_fEno

Is this the software I need? https://forums.ni.com/t5/FIRST-Robotics-Competition/FRC-2019-Update-Suite/ta-p/3861427?profile.language=en

I did find this 2018 manual… is this the step-by-step to follow? Since I don’t have a Classmate, I select the ??? image?

#2

You should not be using a Classmate image unless you have a classmate. As a rookie, you do get a classmate to run the DS on, but having another computer to run it on is probably a good idea given that the classmate is very narrowly specced out.

The Driver Station software becomes available each season with the release of the NI Update Suite (that you linked, yes, that one), so making a NI account is a good move so you can get it. The docs on Screensteps are no longer the most current as the documentation is transitioning to ReadTheDocs. Future reference (in the 2020 season and beyond) on docs.wpilib.org will be a better bet, as right now it’s with 2020 beta content, which may not match 1:1 with 2019 season accurate information.

While you CAN run the DS software on a normal day-to-day laptop or computer, best practices suggest having a computer you don’t do anything else with to avoid potential of other software (power management, the Autodesk client, Skype, Discord, etc.) causing you to lose a match.

#3

You can use any Windows laptop you may have. It just involves installing the Driver Station app and supporting software.

Since we are talking about running a 2019 robot at a 2019 off-season event, you will follow the 2019 installation directions here:
https://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/currentCS/m/getting_started/l/1004055-installing-the-frc-update-suite-all-languages

That also includes the link to the FRC Update Suite needed.

You will need to make sure that the software vintage of this robot you are borrowing is using 2019 software, but you can check that with the new Driver Station app you are loading.

#4

This is quite useful: paper: Driver Station Best Practices

#5

OK, got the software installed, but where do I get a license key from?

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#6

Your mentors can get your key in the team dashboard at kickoff, but that screenshot seems to specifically refer to the NI vision stuff if you’re using the NI Dashboard. If you use any other dashboard it doesn’t matter (iirc)

#7

Ask the mentor team loaning you their robot to have one of their mentors look on their Team Dashboard to find that key.