Intermittent Sendable Chooser output on Smart Dashboard

Technical Programming
1

Hi all -
We use the SendableChooser class for creating our autonomous options:

chooser = new SendableChooser();

chooser.addDefault(“DO_NOTHING”, DO_NOTHING);
chooser.addObject(“DRIVE_FORWARD”, DRIVE_FORWARD);
chooser.addObject(“DEPOSIT_GEAR_LEFT”, DEPOSIT_GEAR_LEFT);
chooser.addObject(“DEPOSIT_GEAR_CENTER”, DEPOSIT_GEAR_CENTER);
chooser.addObject(“DEPOSIT_GEAR_RIGHT”, DEPOSIT_GEAR_RIGHT);
chooser.addObject(“DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_BLUE_LEFT”, DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_BLUE_LEFT);
chooser.addObject(“DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_BLUE_CENTER”, DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_BLUE_CENTER);
chooser.addObject(“DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_BLUE_RIGHT”, DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_BLUE_RIGHT);
chooser.addObject(“DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_RED_LEFT”, DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_RED_LEFT);
chooser.addObject(“DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_RED_CENTER”, DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_RED_CENTER);
chooser.addObject(“DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_RED_RIGHT”, DRIVE_AND_SHOOT_RED_RIGHT);

SmartDashboard.putData(“Auto_Mode_Chooser”, chooser);

When we start up smart dashboard, these options appear, and work… most of the time. Sometimes when we start smart dashboard, the options are not present. Restarting the dashboard once or twice is usually all it takes, but this looks to be a ‘missed transaction’ between the robot and the driver station. Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, how did you solve it?

Thanks.

2

NetworkTables should sync on startup, so one dashboard restart should be all you need. Are you using 1.0 or SFX?

3

We’re using 1.0.

Yes, most single restarts get it, but I seem to recall sometimes needing two. It also seems more common than I am comfortable with.

4

Is this occurring on fresh starts of the Dashboard with the same Robot Code or are you seeing this when you modify the list of available options? If it’s the latter, you may be running into https://github.com/wpilibsuite/SmartDashboard/issues/71

5

This is occurring on a fresh start of smart dashboard. I haven’t made any changes to sendable chooser in a while.

6

Yeah, SmartDashboard has never been particularly reliable. I wholly recommend physical switches for autonomous routine selection.

7

Improvements have been made this year to increase the reliability of the SmartDashboard. If you make a selection while the robot is disconnected, the SmartDashboard will send this selection to the robot when it connects.

There is an open PR right now to fix SendableChoosers not showing up:

8

It appears that the Sendable Choosers fix has been merged. Please advise how to install the new version. Also our team has been using the FRC Dashboard to set autonomous mode. Is the FRC Dashboard considered reliable in competition?

9

Update to WPILIB 2017.3.1