Can't keep constant communication with robot

[deborah_at_frui]

Our robot can't seem to keep constant communication with the driver station.  The driver station will show all green lights and we'll start the robot but than the communication and robot lights go to red for a bit than back to green again.

We've made sure that we're logged out of the developer and only logged into the driver station.

Any suggestions for fixing this would really help us.

Fruitvale High School

[Doug_Norman]

Attaching a picture of your robot might be very helpful.. This type of problem can happen when there is interference between the robot wireless adapter and the wireless router.  If you look at the Diagnostics tab, do you see a lot of errors?

[deborah_at_frui]

What type of interference?  Is there a specific place the robot wireless adaptor should be attached on the robot (for example...as far away as possible from the battery, etc)?  Our school does have wifi in every room.  Could that be interfering?

The diagnostic tab only shows a camera error since we can't seem to get that working - we still only have 1/2 screen and downloaded the update and completed the directions from the manual (but one problem at a time!).

We also get the watchdog error.

I dont' have a picture available but will add one on Monday.

[Doug_Norman]

Typical interference problems happen when the the robot wireless gaming adapter is mounted within a metal cage or metal box of some type.  Anything that keeps the RF from being able to transmit.  Also, it's a good idea to not mount the wireless adapter near the Jaguar motor controllers (they can make noise).

Youe wireless in every room of the school could also affect it.  It really dependso n the wireless port configuration.  Any chance you can test it somewhere else?

[deborah_at_frui]

Our adaptor is not in a metal box - just mounted to the inside of a plexiglass box that is housing all of the robot parts.  It is close to a jaguar so I'll move it tomorrow.  Also, I bought a new, 1 1/2 foot crossover cable and I'll try using that instead of our old one from last year.  We'll try and drag the robot outside on Monday into the parking lot to test it.  Hopefully one of these will fix the problem.

Thanks for all the help!

[scratchin]

Consider trying a shielded Cat5 cable from the cRIO to your wireless router.

Keep your router and its wiring away from motors, relays, Jaguars and the wires that connect to them.

[deborah_at_frui]

We replaced all the cables with brand new ones and now the driver station is working with the robot perfectly! One problem solved and many more to go:(

Thanks,

Fruitvale team 2735