Hi all,
(Newbie question here. Greenhorn. Rookie, whatever you may callit). roboRIO 2.0. What should we worry about if we are doing it all once with the roboRIO and then doing all over again? Scenarios I am thinking about is that one group of students tries the deployment and does the programming etc but for whatever reason another group of students need to do it all over again? Does the roboRIO allow that? Meaning almost like reimaging a computer and starting installing the operating system from scratch? Another scenario is if we were to have a roboRIO that was previously used by another team, would it be possible to “wipe it clean” and start clean, again from the beginning as if it is a new roboRIO? Another way of putting this is what if we feel we “messed up” the roboRIO and we would like to get back to “factory installed” state?
Thank you.
Nemo.
Yes, The GradleRIO deploy utilities installed with WPILib allow you to deploy code multiple times. There is no need to reimage the rio to deploy new code. It is possible to reimage a rio for whatever reason you may want (team number change, firmware update, etc) using the RoboRIO imaging tool included in the NI Game Tools (LINK).
Thank you! Appreciate it greatly.
With the Rio 2… Everything is on memory card. reformatting the card is like starting over. Are you can have multiple cards. You can do essentially do the same thing the way Harrison outlines.
Note somewhat of a restriction. Redeploying a project of the same name overlays the previous version and occupies no additional space of the “disk” other than the space of that latest version.
Deploying different project names results in the latest version of all the different projects to be stored on the “disk.” They accumulate and on my team they all would be considered abandoned, useless space-takers. We delete old projects on the lvuser home folder.
You can monitor your space usage through the DriverStation. The v2.0 has a lot more space than the original roboRIO so you might not notice the accumulation of previous projects.
We have only two roboRIOs for programmers so we have a few different projects by different groups of students being deployed to the roboRIO almost at the same time so the students have to tell their colleagues sitting near them that they are doing so (they share). The latest deployment is the only one that will run.
Worth noting is that the removable-ness of the storage is one of the more controversial aspects of the Rio 2. In my opinion, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone here, swapping cards as a means of code deployment makes no sense. A code deploy is quick and easy, and it’s not worth the risk of either losing a tiny microSD into the depths of the robot (the Rio has a very strong “eject” spring that tends to launch the card), accidentally damaging the Rio while hurriedly swapping cards, or just the accumulating wear and tear on tiny but critical contacts from repeated insert/remove cycles. We literally taped over the SD card slot and swap cards only if there’s a really good reason to do so, like needing to reimage the card.
RoboRIOs actually must be imaged every single year and many times it is required to use an image vX.X or newer to compete at an event. Please refer to the steps to imaging your roboRIO 2.0 here
I highly recommend a rookie team run through at least a read through the WPILIB documentation guides, they are VERY HELPFUL.
They are located here, which I have linked below to the “Zero To Robot” section, if your team is brand new for 2023 you may not receive the new control system components (Power Distribution Hub, Radio Power Module, etc) until you receive your kit of parts. If you have the CTRE PDP and stuff from other teams that works and will work with this guide as well.
Once/If you receive the REV robotics parts as a rookie team there should be included poster guide for wiring (similar to CTRE stuff but a bit easier as you don’t have to use tools for the PDH). Good luck and happy roboting!
Thank you all. Helpful answers. Appreciate it greatly.