RC truck robot conversion

Step 4 Software install

I installed the XP and the Dell drivers on the laptop and installed a free bit of software called Roborealm which is a great visual processing program intended for robotic applications which just so happens to have an SCC-32 and a Sabertooth module in-built. Joy !!

(Update: Roborealm was free, but they have started charging for its use, luckily not too much)

http://www.roborealm.com

There is an example green ball follower script that you can download from the Roborealm website that I modified slightly to work with my hardware and I spent a few hours tinkering with the settings in the filters until I had it as good as i could get it.

I also downloaded the free software, UltraVNC, on the two laptops which allows me to remote into the robot and make adjustments or just watch what is going on on the screen and webcam.

http://www.uvnc.com/

Comments

[jssteinke]

When I do this, I'm going to program it in labview. :) NI vision assist is easy to use.

[kyle brinkerhoff]

yuck! dont waste your time with that garbage software! i used it when i was doing frc in school and it was soooooo limiting ! go check out c# 2008 and openCV it'll blow your mind! plus you dont have to own that silly compact Rio. 700 dollar paper weight!

[jssteinke]

Haha, i respect your descision, I'm in FRC too! I am just saying that vision assistant is very easy to use, i would like to (re)learn C#, i have used C dialects in the past. I've been wanting to write our code in the C IDE, that comes with the FRC KOP, but it'd be easier for newbies to learn labview, so i have to continue the legacy, lol.

[kyle brinkerhoff]

yeah its just that all the frc stuff is sooo cushy! it never gets down into the nitty gritty of device i/o, everythings all wrapped up so in a way it is fast to code for their platform but so limited. but seriously check out c# its very intuitive and super easy to learn because the ide suggests code for you.. BTW GO BUY AN ARDUINO! learning how to code on that is awsome because its sooo similar to other languages, java, c ,c++, processing, ruby, perl...

[hintss]

our cRIO isn't detecting battery voltage, even though it turns on. any help?

anyway, I think that the cRIO is a form of a PLC, isn't it?

[jssteinke]

Yeah the cRIO is a PLC, it is mainly used as a FPGA, but also has a ARM or something in it. One thing to try is to make sure your analog input board is connected to the right slot, and the module in that slot is right. i think its a 9134 or 9234 or something like that. The smaller connector. The cRIO cant read the voltage you give directly to it though, it can only read the voltage on the analog slot. Also make sure on the analog breakout board, the big 2 pin connector is connected to your power distribution board. If this dosent help, just ask for more help.

[hintss]

well, we moved the parts around, and it still wouldn't work.

anyway, where exactly is the voltage read again?
oh, also, the motor controllers are blinking red, could this be related?
and the thing without the repurposed parallel port goes on the side with ethernet, right?

[jssteinke]

The voltage isnt read from the voltage coming into the ethernet side of the cRio with the 4 pin connector thing. The voltage is read using the Analog Breakout Board wich plugs into one of the crio modules. You can look at the FRC control system manual here http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FRC/Game_and_Season__Info/2010_Assets/3-2010FRCControlSystemComponent%20DatasheetsRev1_enc.pdf

also try looking at the cRio manual http://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-2632

If you still need help just ask

[hintss]

so the analog board is the one with a red PCB connected an top, right?

[jssteinke]

Yes it is

[jssteinke]

Also, the motor controllers should always blink red when idle. The only stay solid colors when you send FOrward/Backward commands

[jssteinke]

Yeah, i have an arduino, and have created lots of awsome things on it, our FRC team was thinking of using it instead of the cRIO, for the fun of it.

[kyle brinkerhoff]

haha! ive done that too! its actually way easy to convert the hardware to work with a arduino, just take your time and make some custom connectors on a protoshield to your arduino, also i used a computer with vspe installed to remotely drive the robot through a adhawk network

[jssteinke]

Thanks for the idea, weve been trying to find a way for wireless communication, we'll probably use the ethernet shield. Something fun we were thinking of doing for some school cred, would be to put the frc bot on our schools wireless, then just drive the robot around using the IP cam for wireless vision

[kyle brinkerhoff]

dude! thats also what i did! hey if you want some software to drive the whole thing email me! i wrote it all in c# (-arduino code)

[jssteinke]

I'll pm you soon, hope to hear from you!

[wareneutron]

in jimmy neutron cartoon
it is a pet of jimmy names goddard

[wareneutron]

it is like a dog