Field disabling our robot during a match?

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Dpbailey

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.

If you are having problems that might be your Cortex controller, either post in the VEX tech support sub-forum or call VEX technical support (they are very nice people - don't be afraid to call if you are having a real problem). Just because it is an NC-1 doesn't mean that it doesn't work or that it is causing problems. I mentioned my own NC-1 because it works fine. You don't want to waste time chasing a problem that may not exist. Good luck.

[Dpbailey]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

If you are having problems that might be your Cortex controller, either post in the VEX tech support sub-forum or call VEX technical support (they are very nice people - don't be afraid to call if you are having a real problem). Just because it is an NC-1 doesn't mean that it doesn't work or that it is causing problems. I mentioned my own NC-1 because it works fine. You don't want to waste time chasing a problem that may not exist. Good luck.

Yea we will be calling intelitek tomorrow at school but we are just trying to find the root of the problem. We are hoping that it is something simple like our brain being outdated our something.

Our controllers have also been dropped a few times. Can that be a problem with the electronics inside?

[ManicMechanic]

Originally Posted by Dpbailey

At a tournament yesterday our robot would run fine when we weren't plugged into the competition field but the second we would plug into the field the robot either wouldn't work at all or would cut out after roughly 30 seconds.

The one time (out of four) our autonomous worked and we had control for the whole 2 minutes we won 25 to 22 with a broken alliance and two working enemies.

Anyways I really need help with this because the tournament was nothing but frustrating and my team doesn't want this to happen again.

If anyone could please help me with this we would be VERY VERY appreciative.

So sorry to hear about your difficulties -- it's frustrating to be dead on the field, especially when it might be something beyond your control.

Troubleshooting on the day of is generally easier than a post-mortem, as the conditions are generally impossible to recreate. While your builders/programmers are troubleshooting the robot, perhaps your scout can be watching the field to see if there are systematic errors on the field that propagate between matches.

One year, our team's robot was dead on the field for 2 of its first 3 matches, on the same field, but different alliance colors. Our scout was assigned to systematically watch the field where we had the trouble, and sure enough, it seemed there were plenty of matches where there was a dead robot, but some matches where there were no dead robots. The dead bot changed between red and blue, left and right, but in every case, the dead bot was a crystal robot. The team approached the staff suggesting that there might be a problem with the crystals, they tested the crystals, and sure enough, one crystal pair was not working (the all-vexnet matches, or matches when the bad pair didn't happen to get used were not a problem). The matches didn't get replayed, but the team felt that they'd accomplished something that helped not only themselves, but others as well.

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Dpbailey

Yea we will be calling intelitek tomorrow at school but we are just trying to find the root of the problem. We are hoping that it is something simple like our brain being outdated our something.

Our controllers have also been dropped a few times. Can that be a problem with the electronics inside?

John V-N just posted some information on NC and NC-1 Cortex controllers: http://www.vexforum.com/showpost.php...5&postcount=32

[Dpbailey]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

John V-N just posted some information on NC and NC-1 Cortex controllers: http://www.vexforum.com/showpost.php...5&postcount=32

Thank you very much!

[Dpbailey]

I just checked our brain this morning and all four of them say NC-1 but the 1 has a 2 written over it in sharpie.

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Dpbailey

I just checked our brain this morning and all four of them say NC-1 but the 1 has a 2 written over it in sharpie.

If they say "NC-2" your controller was upgraded before shipping.

[Dpbailey]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

If they say "NC-2" your controller was upgraded before shipping.

So even though it says NC-1 with 2 written over it, it is in fact a NC-2 Cortex?

[Ryantech]

Our NC-2 cortexes also have a two written in on top of the 1 as well - I realize this is normal as stated above.

However, we also have some of the newer "pop top" cortexes that are NC-3 and the 3 is written in sharpie over a 1. is this normal?

[jpearman]

It would be great if VEX could post details of all cortex revisions and changes made. Before this latest episode I think we all thought that there were only two versions, old flat top ones and the new raised VEXnet key version. Now we understand that there are at least 5?

NC
NC-1
NC-2
NC-3
A3

I hear the change from NC-1 to NC-2 was a change in BOM, perhaps some resistors. I would love to know what the other changes were made, I certainly see other subtle difference between an NC-2 and an A3.