No outputs OR inputs from cRIO modules!

[ElectricWraith]

OK, so I got my project creation issue fixed and configured all the components (cRIO IP, Axis camera, wireless bridge, etc.) and I built the RT executable. I deployed all the code (we had previously verified all the wiring the team had done. Everything looked correct and after some basic continuity and safety checks we had powered the system up) and started the Robot Main VI. After doing so, I ran the Driver Station (which of course pops up the Dashboard application) and saw that we were getting video back from the camera.

So far so good! I verified the PWM cable connections to the Jaguar controllers and connected the joystick. Moved the joystick expecting motors to spin and nothing happened. Flashing lights on the Jaguars (which I now know means and invalid CAN ID, we're just using PWM control, not CAN) and no motor movement.

Checked and re-checked all connections, then started creating some test VIs. I created the Simple Motor Control VI from the tutorial, no luck and also no errors. Well, I did see the "Loop running too slow" error on the Dashboard at one point, but when I was running my deployed test VI without the Driver Station open I saw no errors. So, I created a digital output test VI and an Analog Input test VI. I used VIs from the WPI palette for both. I had no success with either one of them.

I did just now find out about the issue with the DB37 cable and when I go to the school today I'm going to check on that. That would explain the lack of PWM output, but not the lack of DO or AI response.

I'm a CLD and I work for an NI Alliance Partner, I'm working on four RT projects at work right now, but they're all Scan Engine-based. I don't have a lot of familiarity with FPGA-based projects, so I'm fumbling a bit here. I got involved with this team a little late in the game, they're a rookie team and have no LV experience. They started out behind the power curve but they're catching up rapidly, I really don't want to be the bottleneck for them!

So, if any of you guys can give me some pointers here, I'd really appreciate it.

Some other questions:

Do I need to modify any parameters (haven't had much time to dig into the default code in depth) in either the Robot or Dashboard projects to make these basic tests I'm doing? Everything I've read says I don't, but in the executable I built for the Dashboard, I got no video back from the camera. As I said, I built my own RT executable and ran the Robot Main, but I got no video.

For my DO and AI test VIs, do I need to have the Robot Main VI running? I think I tried with and without yesterday, got no results in either case.

I'm sure I'll think of more questions soon, but any answers will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Kevin_F]

Hey,

You shouldn't need any extra configuration to get your tests running. I would start testing by putting your test code in teleop and then running robot main in interactive mode (just hitting run not deploying the executable). Make sure in the Open VI's for each tests (Analog, digital, motor control) you are specifying the correct module and that those modules are in the correct slot. If you are still having trouble try running the test projects for analog input and digital IO (in Help->Find Examples->FRC2012). For all of these tests have the driver station running with teleop enabled. Also definitely check the cable (most of the issues we have seen so far have been a result of the flipped cable).

[ElectricWraith]

The cable was indeed flipped, once I fixed that I had motor control!

The problem I have now is that with the Robot Main VI running on the cRIO, the Dashboard executable that I built returns no video. I have Enable Vision set to TRUE on the Robot Main, and I added the camera's IP address string constant in the Begin VI (saved project, rebuilt executable, deployed, etc.) which seemed to be missing. From what I could tell it was needed and just not there. Am I wrong?

The Dashboard also doesn't display any other data, such as the Robot IP Address, etc. What I found was that the UDP Receive (or is it Read?) function in the Receive DS Packet subVI was hanging. Any idea why this would be?

[Kevin_F]

Hey,

You shouldn't need to add the camerea IP address to begin. It should be automatically calculated based on the robot IP Address. Do you have your camera connected to the bridge or to the second ethernet port on the cRIO? If the UDP Read is hanging then either the driver station packets are not being sent out from the robot - are you getting any watchdog timeout errors? Do you have the driver station up with teleop enabled? Are there any errors on the diagnostics page? There may also be a firewall on your system blocking some of the UDP Ports -port 1165 is used for the driver station.