Field disabling our robot during a match?

[murdomeek]

did you try using another pair of working keys? (from another team or something that had no issues)

[jpearman]

First you has said

There were two fields set up. We played on the Right field 3 out of the four qualifiers and the Left one only once. When we played on the left field our robot ran perfectly but whenever we played on the right field our robot had major problems.

Then you said

Originally Posted by Dpbailey

We thought it was a problem with the field but in the finals we mostly played on the left field and we started to have problems there too.

So in reality you played more than 4 matches overall (qualifiers and finals) and had problems on both fields.

This type of problem is very hard to solve unless you can find something wrong with the robot. Lots of theories will be suggested, bad WiFi, motors overheating, low batteries etc. but as the exact conditions of the tournament cannot be recreated you may never know what happened. Test the robot on Tuesday with as close to yesterday's conditions as possible, use the same controller, the same VEXnet keys, same backup battery and see if you can reproduce the problem.

[Dpbailey]

Originally Posted by jpearman

First you has said



Then you said



So in reality you played more than 4 matches overall (qualifiers and finals) and had problems on both fields.

This type of problem is very hard to solve unless you can find something wrong with the robot. Lots of theories will be suggested, bad WiFi, motors overheating, low batteries etc. but as the exact conditions of the tournament cannot be recreated you may never know what happened. Test the robot on Tuesday with as close to yesterday's conditions as possible, use the same controller, the same VEXnet keys, same backup battery and see if you can reproduce the problem.

OK

Could it be that our brain and controller weren't on the right master code? or something like that? Would that cause a problem if our controllers and brain had a different master code then the other robots?

[jpearman]

Originally Posted by Dpbailey

OK

Could it be that our brain and controller weren't on the right master code? or something like that? Would that cause a problem if our controllers and brain had a different master code then the other robots?

No, very unlikely, the field control is working identically to the competition switch as far as firmware is concerned. The joystick detects if the enable/disable and auto/driver signals are high (+5v) or low (0v) and acts accordingly. The only difference is that the competition switch is passive, ie. it just uses a switch to connect the signals to 0v or not (allowing them to be at 5v via a pull up resistor) whereas the field control is active, the signals are driven by logic (or transistor or something, I don't have one so have never looked closely)

If the cortex and joystick were on different and incompatible master firmware and could not communicate with each other then you would have (hopefully) noticed that between matches. EasyC is pretty good about checking firmware versions before you can download user code unless you have disabled that feature.

[The VEX Raptors]

Was there any wild driving going on? Once our more energetic driver rammed the tower while trying to get a barrel in the corner goal and our alliance's robots cut out, causing a match restart.

[Dpbailey]

Originally Posted by The VEX Raptors

Was there any wild driving going on? Once our more energetic driver rammed the tower while trying to get a barrel in the corner goal and our alliance's robots cut out, causing a match restart.

No there wasn't

[Paul T. 27]

Similar Problems happened to us in new Hampshire in November, we were the team to beat and we got eliminated quarterfinals due to the problems we found out the cortex we received from our local collage team as a gift was a beta version one (the top was flat, the vexnet key was not raised) we invested in a new control system to assure this would never happen again, i know the bundle is pricey but if its costing you wins at competition its worth it. i saw the video of your robot and I'd say its worth buying a new control system your robot looks really good.

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Paul T. 27

the cortex we received from our local college team as a gift was a beta version one (the top was flat, the vexnet key was not raised)

The first-generation (flat-top) Cortex units either have "NC-1" or "NC-2" printed on the bottom. The earliest had "NC-1" on them and some of these had problems. I have an NC-1 here that has worked perfectly ever since I received it, and it is one of the first Cortex controllers shipped. The "NC-2" versions included a fix that make them the same as the newer "NC-3" pop-top units.

"Flat-top" does NOT mean beta.

Most NC-1 Cortex units are fine.

The NC-2 and NC-3 Cortex units are the same inside the case. VEX said they released the pop-top to improve range.

[mbrunn]

i have experience this exact issue at all of our competitions this year. i have switched out our cortex, our joysticks, our vexnet keys, and just about everything else (even rewritten our entire code). this issue is persistent and is something i have NOT been able to duplicate with the switch simulator.

[Dpbailey]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

The first-generation (flat-top) Cortex units either have "NC-1" or "NC-2" printed on the bottom. The earliest had "NC-1" on them and some of these had problems. I have an NC-1 here that has worked perfectly ever since I received it, and it is one of the first Cortex controllers shipped. The "NC-2" versions included a fix that make them the same as the newer "NC-3" pop-top units.

"Flat-top" does NOT mean beta.

Most NC-1 Cortex units are fine.

The NC-2 and NC-3 Cortex units are the same inside the case. VEX said they released the pop-top to improve range.

We have the flat top cortex and now that you say that I would not be surprised if it is a NC-1 Cortex because we got them the week they came out.

If it is a NC-1 Cortex could it be possible that this is our problem? And if it is would there be anything vex would do about it?

I will check tomorrow when I get to school.