Ok we are getting our gyro tommorrow so we will have 4 days to program before competition.
Can you guys give us issues to expect and just tips and tricks on it? We are using it so we can turn to exact degrees.
Issues:
Lots of drift, especially after longer periods of use (e.g. during programming skills)
Counting infinitely up or down for no apparent reason
Tips:
JPearman has said that minimizing vibration by mounting it on a shoulder as opposed to the base or mounting it on the rubber links can help with drift
Make sure robot is stationary when it initializes
What type of drifting are you talking about?
Your robot starts out with a heading of 0 degrees. After a few minutes of driving/autonomous the same heading that used to be 0° is now 12°. A little while later it’s 21°, and so on. These numbers may or may not be reasonable.
So basically the Coriolis effect.
Probably more like random error… unless you’re driving your robot around on a spinning asteroid.
As for jpearman’s suggestions, have a look at this:
https://vexforum.com/t/gyro-drift-mechanical-improvements/25343/1
True true, and thanks for the link!
Remember: you have to plug the 3 wire extension into the gyroscope correctly in order to receive value. This is the correct way of plugging wire into gyroscope:
https://vexforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8995&stc=1&d=1422994193
If you are not getting a reading, try reversing the way you plug in your three wire extension.
Are you using Robotc or Easyc? If Easyc, remember to initialize it in pre-auton.
Also, like what has been mentioned, try to mount the gyro on rubber links to reduce drift.
I was going to put it in a non Vibrating area, and i was going to put soft squishy foam under it. So it keeps it stable but still the foam adds some absorption if something happens.
We are using RobotC
The easiest way to remember which way to plug the cable into the gyroscopic sensor is to remember that the black wire should be adjacent to the small “B” written beside the pins on the sensor.
Also, I am unsure what amount of drift others are experiencing, but I have had very good performances with very minimal (if any) drift with the gyroscopic sensor using the latest version (really, ever since version 3.x was released) of RobotC. Be sure to calibrate the sensor in the pre-autonomous portion of the Competition Template. You may also need to adjust the “SensorScale” such that the sensor’s degree measurements are accurate. Information about calibrating the gyro and adjusting the SensorScale can be found here: http://robotc.net/blog/2011/10/13/programming-the-vex-gyro-in-robotc