RoboRIO 2.0 Power Fault + No DIO/MXP

[tychoy]

We have a RoboRIO 2.0 for FRC, and we recently noticed an issue when we wanted to start using DIO and MXP ports. We were unable to power anything via the MXP (such as a NavX2), and unable to read any values over DIO (through bore encoder). We opened up the board and cleaned it with compressed air and a soft brush, but the RoboRIO still does not work. 

There is a red power light, suggesting a power fault (5V?).

Can anyone help us troubleshoot and isolate the issue? (Our first competition is in 7 days 😕 )

[JessNI]

Hi tychoy,

My name is Jessica, I'm with NI.

A solid red power light is the roboRIO telling you it's detecting a shorted power rail, it is likely that residual shavings may have found their way into the casing, causing this concern.

Can you open the device (again) using the four screws on the back and the two screws at the power port and clean the circuit board off using compressed air? Also, if possible, using a flashlight to inspect the board closely for any remaining metal shards.

Do you happen to have another roboRIO that you can use in the meantime?

[tychoy]

Hi Jessica,

I had another team member open up the roboRIO so we could have a second pair of eyes on it. After cleaning out the shavings and inspecting the rio with a flashlight, the roboRIO remained nonfunctional with the solid red power light. We tried compressed air, but it was not powerful enough to brush away any larger pieces. 

We do have another roboRIO that we may use as a temporary replacement, but this means one of our robots will be in service for the rest of our season, which we hope to fix ASAP. This is disappointing to the portion of our team that was working on that robot, but we will have to make do until the situation is remedied.

Are there any next steps that we can take to try to solve this issue? We're a rookie team, so we don't have much experience with this kind of advanced electrical problem.

Best, 

Tycho Young

[JessNI · Accepted solution]

Hi tychoy,

I've sent you a direct message to coordinate the repair.