Motors won't run - Outputs won't fire - Different problem than other discussion(s)

[Scott_the_Idabot]

I have read through all the discussions around "Motors Not Running"  We have a similar yet different problem.   Our Jaguars won't change state and relay/solenoid outputs won't fire.  On the driver's station, the area to the right of the inputs showing output type data is greyed out.

1.  We have installed the LabView software on 2 different computers.

2.  We have installed the driver's station software on 2 different computers.  (Yes - we enabled TeleOp)

3.  We have re-flashed and tried 2 different CRIOs (older version, not the 2012 style)

4.  Correct voltages have been checked multiple times, LEDs light correctly and the digital sidecar has all 3 voltage LEDs lit and the Robot Signal Light flashes.

When you monitor the joystick value going to the motor block, you see valid data and it changes with jostick position.  No outputs will fire and the Jaguars LEDs dont show to gate in either direction when you move the joystick.  Again, the box on the driver's station showing PWM and discrete output data is greyed out - implying to me that we have no connection to either of the digital cards. The Analog card is working fine.   We have tried different I/O cards, same problem.

The system acts like it is not getting the enable signal, but since you can monitor data in the TeleOP vi while TeleOP is enabled, one would assume enable is working?

The only thing that I have thought of today is that we are using last year's round D cable and last years digital sidecar.  I will try everything tonight with the new ribbon cables and the new sidecars (after I check that the ribbon cables are assembled correctly)

HELP!!

Team 3152 and this particular Electrical Engineer with 26 years of control experience will appreciate any help you can offer!!   Like every other control problem, this is something simple: 5 minutes to fix - 5 days to find.

[Kevin_F]

Sounds to me like it might be another watchog issue similar to the one seen here:https://decibel.ni.com/content/thread/11882?tstart=0 (not sure if we have that one resolved yet). Are you getting any watchdog or other errors on the diagnostics page? Are you connected wired or wireless? If wireless I would try wired. Also some teams have had success with moving the location of the DC-DC converter - apparently its really noisy and doesn't play nice with the bridge.

[Scott_the_Idabot]

I have rewired the whole system now with just the bare requirements.  All hardwired, no wireless.  Same symptoms. 

Error Message

Error <code> -44061 occurred at "Left and Right Motors" in the VI path Robot main.vi

FRC: The loop containing RobotDrive is not running fast enough

We have made no changes to the base base code.

[DAQjr]

Make sure your modules are in the correct positions.  Use the imanging tool the check the status of your modules.  After making a change, reset the cRIO to check the modules again.

The errors that result could slow down the code and cause you to get this error as well.

[Scott_the_Idabot]

The cards are in the correct slots per the docs and per the imaging tool.  I keep going back to these cards since everything appears to be working except discrete I/O.  Our RSL is blinking once every few seconds while enabled - do I pursue the path of a watchdog timeout disabling the outputs?  What are my troubleshooting steps now?  All we have set up is the CRio and digital sidecar (and associated 12/24 volt power connections from the distribution board)  Programming PC, Driver's Station and CRio are networked via cables.  We are using the old digital sidecar cable (I am not yet comfortable with the repair we made to the ribbon cable connector)

Help and Thanks!

[Kevin_F]

Since everything works except for the things that are disabled by a watchdog timeout, I would pursue that course of debug. Do you have any firewalls turned on? Are the status LED's on the diagnostics page green for robot communication, bridge, etc? On the charts page of the driver station do you see missed packets? What is the CPU utilization on the controller?

[Scott_the_Idabot]

Ok this is really interesting.  Several iterations of troubleshooting ago, we disconnected everything that was not needed (including the jaguars).  What I just learned is that in fact the I/O IS working just fine.  The only problem we are working on now is that the information from the 9403 digital card is NOT reading on the drivers station display.  The 9201 analog and the 9472 digital display just fine.

The original problem of not being able to fire the jaguars has gone away somewhere along the way.  Our robot will work just fine now, we just can't see the status of discrete I/O and PWM on the drivers station.

[Kevin_F]

Check out this bug:http://firstforge.wpi.edu/sf/go/artf1439?nav=1&_pagenum=1&returnUrlKey=1328302926066

The steps outlined there should let you get the driver station working correctly. Post back if you have any questions.