Encoder values in RobotC debugger window

VEX V5 Technical Support
1

We are new to RobotC this year, so there’s a lot I don’t understand.

We have 2 quad encoders on the front wheels of our chassis. We download the program, bring up the debugger window, and run auton, so we can see the encoder values as it’s running.

We are getting bizarre readings, and I don’t know what’s happening or if I just don’t understand what I’m seeing. In the debugger window when we run auton, the encoder values will just jump all over the place, even jumping often from positive clicks (correct) to negative, and the rest of the time jumping up & down. This happens on both chassis encoders when I watch them in the window.

One thing that boggles my mind more than these readings is that driving using encoder clicks (while encoder < xxx) actually works.

So my question is about the debugger window. I was expecting that we would see continuously increasing values as the robot drives along. We do see this behaviour in the debugger window when we just move the wheels manually. Is there something that I don’t understand about the debugger window? Should I expect to see values that make sense in this window?

Thanks.

2

We have had mixed experience with the sensor view, though when it displayed given sensor at all, it mostly worked.
What works by far the best for us is the data logging. You have to configure the logging series independently in the motor and sensor setup, then trigger the logging from the degugger dialog, but reviewing timestamped and synchronized sensor readings after an experiment is pure gold.
Last week, we’ve got a PID tuned after a single look at the logged data from one naive experiment…

3

We have not done any datalogging yet, but I will figure out how to do that. Thanks a ton!