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Offering Up HolonomicArcade1.vi as an FRC COTS

In the 2009 FRC build season, Team 2353 The Legion developed a LabVIEW holonomic arcade vi as an alternative to the holonomic vi provided in the WPI kit.  It turned out that holonomic drive mode was not a good match for the Lunacy wheels and surface, so we did not use the vi in the 2009 competition.

To make this work available for future competitions, we are posted it here in our blog.  We are also posting an  announcement in the FRC forum with a link to our blog to make it easily found by other FRC teams.

In reading the rules, it looks that posting it to our blog and announcing its availability in the FRC Forum would qualify the vi as a COTS as described in parts 8.2 and 8.3 of the 2009 rules Section 8 - The Robot.  It is publicly accessible, it is referenced in a place visible to all FRC teams, and is a component usable by teams to construct a function, not a complete solution to a function. Therefore, all teams would be able to use it, much as they use vis in the WPI library.

holonomicarcade1.vi

Holonomic Drive Scaling Factors

2009 10 05 dick.hodgman Announcements Comments (0) Permalink

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Project Status

Mr. Biggerstaff and I unpacked the robot on Monday.

I put the robot on blocks on the cart (without handles) and set up my laptop with the latest code.  The robot is tethered to the Robotics LAN.  On first boot, the stand-alone code performed much as it did at the competition.  I ran the 20090301 code and teleoperated mode worked as expected; autonomous fell into watchdog.  So much for using the fresh project with our code laid in with minimal change.  Some unobvious process is dropping the robot into watchdog when in autonomous.  On reboot, the robot showed “No Code” status on the driver station.  It appears we lost the stand-alone code.

Next:

  1. Install the handles on the cart.
  2. Set up work tables and the new workbench.  Organize and store bulky parts.
  3. Configure wireless again.  We added a security code at the competition; either add it to the WAP or remove it from the game adaptor on the robot or set a new code on both.
  4. Modify the autonomous code to use a state machine programmed by an array. Disable the watchdog while in autonomous mode.  Test.
2009 03 31 dick.hodgman Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Sunday, March 1 Programming Status

Created a new Robot Basic Mode project The Legion 2353 Basic Robot 20090301 and copied the block diagrams from Basic Robot Main.vi and Autonomous Independent Sequenced.vi in project FRC cRIO Robot Project Basic Arcade.  By using the original project files and modifying them with our code, this may avoid any differences in file name and VI name. This has the advantage of being as close as possible to the boilerplate project.

Did not implement Autonomous Independent.vi as a sub-VI in Robot Main; notes in Robot Mode / GetCompetitionMode.vi explain why autonomous must be a static reference.

Next:

  1. Test as TeleOp and Autonomous; then deploy as stand-alone.
  2. Implement a state machine driven by an array for programming autonomous mode, as described by Dr. Andy.
2009 03 01 dick.hodgman Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Saturday, February 28 Programming Update

Autonomous mode failed to run seven out of seven rounds of competition yesterday and today.  We discovered the problem at the practice session Thursday afternoon.  During testing, autonomous mode would work about one out of every 10 tries.  Nevertheless,  after a successful run, the next redeploy or build-stand-alone/configure-as-startup would fail autonomous mode again.   For two days we thought the problem was tied to the watchdog since the robot would immediately enter Watchdog timeout mode when entering Autonomous Mode.  We had help from five different software experts from other teams, and although we learned a lot from them and their techniques, all were stumped. Three days of troubleshooting narrowed the problem down to an error in identifying the name of  the autonomous VI; since it was not found, it was never started.  However, the error report did not identify the name that could not be found.   When we packed up the robot, we still had not found a solution.

Next:

  1. Drop Autonomous Independent.vi into Robot Main.vi and run as a sub-VI instead of using the static reference. This should bypass the VI identification problem that seems to have caused the dead autonomous mode.  Status 20090301: Do not do this; notes in Robot Mode / GetCompetitionMode.vi explain why autonomous must be a static reference.
  2. Create a new Robot Basic Mode project and copy the block diagrams from the Robot Basic Arcade project.  By using the original project files and modifying them to our code, this may avoid any differences in file name and VI name. This has the advantage of being as close as possible to the boilerplate project.  Status 20090301: Done, and built for stand-alone.
  3. Implement a state machine driven by an array for programming autonomous mode, as described by Dr. Andy.
  4. Test in autonomous mode.
2009 02 28 dick.hodgman Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Wednesday, February 24 Programming Update

LabVIEW, the cRIO, and the Driver Station are up-to-date.

The robot is programmed stand-alone with Legion 2353 Build 06.

Next:

  1. Program the robot radio with the WPA key we get at the event.
2009 02 24 dick.hodgman Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Scholarship Update from F.I.R.S.T.

This arrived by email today:

*** Team Contacts:  Please pass this info on to students, parents, and high school guidance counselors! ***

***  Pay special attention if you are on a team that used pneumatics, are on a team supported by Teradata Corporation, or are a female in your junior year.  ***

2009 FIRST Scholarship News – February Update


Greetings Teams:

We have added ten NEW SCHOLARSHIPS since last month!  There are now 130 FIRST scholarship providers who are offering college scholarships to students on FRC teams.  Many of these are still available for the fall of 2009.  So be sure to check out the FIRST Scholarship web page (at www.usfirst.org/scholarships) and follow the link to the 2009 FIRST Scholarship Opportunities.   Hint: You can sort the scholarship list by application deadline date by clicking on the Deadline column header.

New scholarships that have been added recently:

  • DeVry University is generously offering four (4) half-tuition scholarships (valued up to $32,500 over 9 semesters) and 25 scholarships for $1,500/semester (renewable up to $13,500 over 9 semesters) for any course of study.  There are over 90 DeVry campuses throughout the US and Canada.  Application deadline is 5/1/09.
  • Fluid Power Educational Foundation is offering two or more $500 non-renewable scholarships to seniors whose FRC team used pneumatics in their robot.  This scholarship may be utilized for studying Engineering or Engineering Technology at an FPEF Key School (see details on website for list of FPEF Key schools). Application deadline is 5/31/2009.
  • International Fluid Power Society is offering two $2.500 non-renewable scholarships to seniors whose FRC team used pneumatics in their robot.  This scholarship may be utilized for any ABET accredited Engineering or Engineering Technology program.   Application deadline is 5/31/2009.
  • Metropolitan Community College – Business & Technology in Kansas City, Missouri is offering one scholarships of $500 non-renewable for any course of study. Application deadline is 4/1/09.
  • Metropolitan Community College – Maple Woods in Kansas City, Missouri is offering two full-time scholarships for 24 credit hours for one year (valued at $1,968) for any course of study. Application deadline is 4/1/09.
  • Missouri University of Science and Technology is offering four scholarships of $500/year renewable up to $2,000 for any course of study.  Application deadline is 3/31/09.
  • Norfolk State University/BAE Systems is offering two scholarships for $2,500/year renewable up to $10,000.  These scholarships are for any of the undergraduate Computer Science or Engineering programs.  Application deadline is 6/1/2009.
  • Teradata Corporation is offering five $1,000 non-renewable scholarships to seniors who have participated on a Teradata sponsored FIRST team.  This scholarship may be utilized for any STEM-related (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) course of study.  Application deadline is 4/15/2009.
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison is offering two scholarships for $1,500/year renewable up to $7,500 over five years.  These scholarships are for study of any engineering discipline in their College of Engineering. Preference will be given to women or students from underrepresented racial/ethnic minority groups. Application deadline is 3/15/2009.
  • Virginia Tech/BAE Systems is offering one scholarship for $2,500/year renewable up to $10,000.  This scholarship is for a female in her Junior year of high school who wants to attend Virginia Tech and study engineering.  Application deadline is 4/1/2009.

Changes to Existing Scholarships

  • Penn State/BAE Systems has added another scholarship and will now award two (2) scholarships for $2,500/year. Application deadline is 3/5/2009.
  • Purdue University/BAE Systems has added an additional $10,000 scholarship to their offering.   They now are offering three scholarships, one for $15,000 and two for $10,000, payable over four years. (This is a correction to last month’s announcement.) The application deadline has been extended to 3/1/2009.
  • Purdue University-Computer Science - The application deadline has been extended to 4/1/2009.
  • University of Arizona/BAE Systems has added another scholarship and will now award two (2) scholarships for $2,500/year. Application deadline is 4/30/2009.
  • University of New Hampshire/BAE Systems has added another scholarship and will now award two (2) scholarships for $2,500/year. Application deadline is 3/1/2009.

Scholarship Advice

  • Remember that some scholarships go unawarded because no one applies for them.  If you fit the eligibility requirements for a scholarship, go for it!
  • Pay attention to those application deadline dates.  There are close to 50 scholarships whose applications are due during the next month.

What if you have just missed the application deadline date?  Call the school or organization and ask if they will accept a late application. Some schools will accept applications even after the deadline date.   It certainly can’t hurt to ask!

Go Teams!

--
FIRST Robotics Competition

Phone 1-800-871-8326 ext. 0
Fax 603-666-3907
frcteams@usfirst.org
www.usfirst.org
2009 02 18 dick.hodgman Announcements Comments (0) Permalink

Friday, February 13 Programming Status

The robot appeared to have lost the program.  After several hours’ testing, we rebooted the Driver Station and the system was back to normal.  Moral:  The Driver Station may go dead yet provide a display appearing to show the robot is not functional.

Robot Main.vi was modified to accomodate the electric motor ball bat.

Next:

  1. Reconfigure the robot and program to use a Jaguar to drive the ball bat.  Set the retraction direction speed to slowly return the bat, allowing the operator to more effectively minimize the over swing.
  2. Test limiting the maximum speed to improve maneuverability.
  3. Create and upload Build 04 as stand-alone to the robot.
2009 02 13 dick.hodgman Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Friday, February 13 Drive Status

The right drive wheel is screeching; we found the bearing on the axle support had slipped from its housing and was rubbing the wheel mount.

The robot is within 10 pounds of competition weight; we may remove the rear casters and move the drive wheels to the back of the robot, saving four pounds.

Next:

  1. Reseat the axle bearings when we remount the drive wheels at the back.
  2. Evaluate the drive operation with the rear mounted drive wheels.
2009 02 13 dick.hodgman Uncategorized Comments (0) Permalink

Friday, February 13 FIRST Correspondence

The following message was sent today to KC-FIRST.  The referenced documents are available for viewing from this post. –DH

Greetings KC Regional Teams!

Please find the following attachments to this e-mail:

FinalPrepEmailToTeams.pdf
8-The Robot Rev H.pdf
2009 FRC Inspection Checklist Rev B.pdf
CALRINesletterSample.pdf

The first 3 documents are critical to your preparation for the KC Regional.  The CA Lead Robot Inspector Newsletter may be of interest/use for you but is for general information only.  It probably is particularly useful to read the bumper section of that newsletter.

You should be intimately familiar with Chapter 8-The Robot, but be sure you are current with Rev H. or later.

The Inspection Checklist is for your final review of your robot, and we will want a freshly self-completed one at the Regional BEFORE we inspect you robot.

Good Luck this last weekend.  I hope the robots are mostly complete and being tested.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Campbell, P.E.

2009 02 13 dick.hodgman Announcements
Documentation Comments (2) Permalink

Wednesday, February 11 Programming Status

Default values for the autonomous program were set successfully.  A new build proved the process.

Build on my laptop took 1 minute vs. 35 minutes on the school laptop.  It appears to be both RAM and processor limited. We must have a better alternative in the pit at the competition; we could have as little as 15 minutes between rounds.

Next:

  1. Create Build 03 for stand-alone with the new drive values.  Install as startup & test.
  2. Check out my laptop with the robot and determine an alternative to the school laptop for builds.
2009 02 11 dick.hodgman Uncategorized Comments (1) Permalink