Workcell Mastering

brianG · April 21, 2023, 2:31pm

I am new to the Workcell, and we are trying to master 5 of them in my class. We are having problems with some of the potentiometer value readouts on the Brain never “passing”. We have the mastering jig installed, and are running the “mastering” code that comes with VEXcode.

This may be related, so I will ask this too. On several of the Workcells, when the students move the arm toward the positive x-axis, the values will show as increasingly negative. The y-axis does the same. The z-axis readout will show that it is moving in the negative or positive direction even when we are not moving the arm up or down when moving the arm along the x or y-axis. We have checked to make sure that the potentiometers are in the correct ports on the brain. The potentiometer wires are connected white-to-white.

Does anyone have any advice on what we could do to fix this/these issues?

Thanks!

mgoodwin · April 21, 2023, 5:12pm

Hi @brianG, could you please provide more info on the 5 Workcells “never passing”? Is the problem you are experiencing:

You attempt to master the Workcell
Mastering Process fails
You run the arm install program to fix the failing joint
Once all joints are passing, you attach the arm and then begin step number 1 and the cycle repeats?

Or rather is the problem you are experiencing is that you have to master and reinstall the arm for a Workcell multiple times a day? I highly recommend you view this article from the VEX Library that walks you through not only mastering, but fixing joints on your Workcell Arm. Additionally, if you have not done so already, I highly recommend you check out the free Workcell Educator Certification Course found at certifications.vex.com. Lastly, if you have any other Workcell related questions, check out this article on all the FAQs of the Workcell

In regards to your second question, are you seeing the coordinates themselves not function as they are intended to? Or are you asking about the potentiometer values that seem to be moving negatively when positively is expected? The XYZ coordinates of the end of arm tool can be displayed on the V5 Brain through VEXcode V5, which are calculated from the potentiometer values. Meaning, the potentiometer values may be negative, as they’re what’s used to calculate the XYZ coordinates. However if it’s the XYZ coordinates that are misbehaving, please attach videos/images of your build and code! Again I highly recommend checking out the Workcell Certification course if you have not done so already!