PIC Microcontrollers

VEX V5 Technical Support OFFICIAL Tech Support
1

We have had the PIC microcontrollers for several years, and more recently have started to have some difficulties with them. We will download the program with little difficulty, and the robot will work for some time, however, well before the time limit is finished, the eye will begin to blink amber and the whole machine stops working. After some time the microcontroller will work again, control will re-engage, and we will be able to move the machine, only to have it cycle through again. This is a persistent problem that is not solved by power cycling, changing batteries or uploading the .hex and .bin again. We have a tournament tomorrow, and need help.

Thanks in advance.

2

Hello seekercuz,

Thanks for taking the time to visit our forum.
The “Amber Eye” is an indicator of your program status. If it flashes once every five seconds it indicates you are in driver control mode; however, if it flashes once every second it indicates you are in autonomous mode.

If the amber eye begins to flash continuously and you lose control of the robot, its because the robot has entered into autonomous mode and you will need to power-cycle to restore the driver control mode.

For further information on the status indicators of the PIC, please visit this page: http://www.vexrobotics.com/wiki/index.php/VEX_Microcontroller_V0.5

-Eli