Category talk:Programming

From Team 449 Wiki

Reconfiguring the Radio

You've just set up your carpet and put your robot on, all ready to be enabled. But, no matter what you try, the communications button on FRC Driver station just wont turn green. You've checked that all the wires on your robot are connected and that the battery is in. The robot is on, and driver station is working except for the communications. In "Robot.java", the file is set to the right map, and there is working code on the robot. You've tried in vain to connect to the robot's network But all of your efforts are in vain, because that communications remains as red as aroma tomato in the aisles of Costco. Before you cry and give up, you can try

Reconfiguring the Radio!!!!

To do this, you need your unresponsive robot, a battery that has been beaked at more than 100%, an Ethernet cable, and some patience.

First, you will need to connect the robot to your computer with an Ethernet cable. To do this, you will need to find the Ethernet cable connecting the radio to the RoboRio. Disconnect that cable on the side of the radio and plug in your Ethernet cable. Plug the other end into your computer. Make sure you turn of or disable all other potential networks. We want Ethernet to be the only available option.

Once your robot and computer are connected, open FRC Radio Configuration. Grant it all the permissions to modify your device and set the network in the pop-up to Ethernet if it isn't already. At this time, click the Load Firmware button on the program and power cycle the robot (turn off then on.) Give it however much time it needs to establish a connection with the radio. This may take a while.

When this is done, there may either be a success message or a failure message. Ignore this message and hit the "Configure" button on the program. Give it a moment. Hopefully this works. It usually fixes the problem. If it gives you a success message, disconnect the Ethernet from the radio and your computer.

Connect the RoboRio to the radio again and power cycle the robot. Reboot driver station. When you click on the available networks, the robot's network should appear. Click on that and connect. Your communications and robot buttons will turn green. After that, have fun enabling your robot!

If this doesn't work, you can cry. But a helpful tip when in doubt is to contact a veteran or someone with more experience.

Hope this helps!

Anika Dasgupta