VEX World Championship - Firmware Update

[JVN]

The VEX Robotics technical support team has identified an issue that some competition teams are experiencing in which the Cortex Microcontroller is unable to resume VEXnet link after a Microcontroller reset.

To help teams avoid this phenomenon at the VEX Robotics Competition World Championship, we are encouraging all teams to test and update to a new firmware version. This version is compatible with existing versions of easyC and ROBOTC, and does not require users to modify their code at all.

Go here for more information, and the new firmware download:
http://www.vexrobotics.com/firmware_update

[JVN]

Full announcement:
The VEX Robotics technical support team has identified an issue that some competition teams are experiencing in which the Cortex Microcontroller is unable to resume VEXnet link after a Microcontroller reset.

To help eliminate this issue at the VEX Robotics World Championship we are releasing a special version of the VEX Firmware, specifically for World Championship teams (3.21_Worlds). This firmware version modifies the Cortex re-initialization to help the VEXnet link reconnect in the event of a reset (i.e. caused by VEXnet Key "jostling", power interruption, battery brownout, or static).


We know that competition teams dislike updating firmware so close to an event, so we are publishing this update in the hopes that teams will have a chance to test it "at home" before coming to VEX Worlds. If you're comfortable with the new version, we strongly urge you to use it at the World Championship to help prevent potential problems related to a Cortex reset.

This firmware only updates a "back end" relinking protocol and it does not affect anything related to robot performance -- you don't need to tweak your autonomous mode, or anything like that.

Visit the VEX Forum thread on this firmware release for more discussions and to post any questions or concerns.

[mbrunn]

Does vex still recommend that we use the vex worlds firmware if we are using easy c or should we switch over to the newest version of the easy c firmware that was released today (3/28/12) ?

[mbrunn]

is any update on which firmware to use for worlds?

[JVN]

Originally Posted by mbrunn

is any update on which firmware to use for worlds?

VEX Robotics recommends all VEX World Championship teams use the 3.21_worlds firmware. This is a special firmware, which is not being pushed to the general VEX user base (which consists of a large number of non-competition users).

-John

[mbrunn]

ok. the only reason i was confused was that easy c released a new version after vex did. thanks for clarifying!

[jpearman]

Originally Posted by mbrunn

ok. the only reason i was confused was that easy c released a new version after vex did. thanks for clarifying!

Intelitek did release a new version, 4.1.0.3. This version has the same master code as the previous EasyC version (4.1.0.1). They had initially suggested using the included firmware but amended this a couple of hours later. Here is the post from another thread.

Originally Posted by kingofl337

If you read my post earlier, I'm sorry it is incorrect.

I stated we recommend running the Non-Worlds firmware. This is true with one exception "The worlds competition" the worlds firmware has an aggressive reconnect algorithm. So, at the Worlds Competition we will recommend teams using easyC to flash to the Worlds Firmware.

As a note, this firmware has other impacts on features not related to the VRC competition. When using easyC for anything other then VRC use the included firmware, but in competition use the Worlds Firmware.

edit: I will also be posting a link to download the "Worlds Firmware" on the easyC Download Site.

[The VEX Raptors]

For those of us who aren't programming experts, how does one download this firmware from the computer into the robot? The file we downloaded into our computer is not in our ROBOTC download menu, and when we tried running the file "setup," the computer gave us an error message.

[RoboDesigners]

Originally Posted by The VEX Raptors

For those of us who aren't programming experts, how does one download this firmware from the computer into the robot? The file we downloaded into our computer is not in our ROBOTC download menu, and when we tried running the file "setup," the computer gave us an error message.

Before someone else asks, what did the error message say?

//Andrew

[jumper11]

1. Download the folder from Vex
2. Put the folder in an easily accesible location during the install process (e.g. Desktop or Downloads)
3. Go into RobotC and scroll down to Master Code and select "choose file"
4. Find the folder with the firmware inside
5. Select the appropriate firmware (the one labeled Master Code v3_21.BIN or something similar)
6. Download to Cortex