cRIO and Robot Control System

The 2010 FRC Control System Control System Manual Page has several documents for configuring and using the robot control system. In particular, Chapter 2 - Getting Started 1/09/10 bench top test you should do first has a lot of good configuration information.

Notes on re-flashing the cRIO

Set the console IO switch to on and the others off (Brian thinks it worked with them all in the off position on Aug 28, 2011). plug the cRIO in using a cross-over cable.  Set the download computer IP address to 10.9.71.11 or some similar number (maybe 10.59.71.11) that is on the same subnet as the cRIO.  Be sure and close all of the network configuration popup windows so that the new IP address is set on the download computer.  We named the cRIOs FRC_971 and FRC_971_cRIO_2.

  • Version 43 installed on 2012 cRIO-FRC II Comp Bot with IP address 10.9.71.2 on Feb 12, 2012.  Had to turn the Windows Firewall off for it to work.  Laptop IP address set to 169.254.84.17 with Netmask of 255.0.0.0 so that it was on the same subnet as the cRIO which started out with IP address 169.254.84.198.  Michael installed it under the root account with the 2012 FRC cRIO Imaging Tool.  There are no swithes to mess with on this version of the cRIO.  We selected "Wind River Workbench (C++)", checked (selected) "Enable NetConsole", and nothing in the "CAN Driver Plugin" selection box and 971 in the team box.  The first time through, it would not finish but changed the cRIO's IP address to 10.9.71.2.  After the first time through, the laptop IP address was set to 10.9.71.5 and then the cRIO was successfully reimaged.  Be sure and renable the Windows Firewall and set the IP address to automatic if desired.
  • Version 43 installed on cRIO #3 with IP address 10.79.71.2 on Jan 28, 2012.  Laptop IP address set to 10.79.71.22 with Netmask of 255.0.0.0.   Michael installed it under the root account with the 2012 FRC cRIO Imaging Tool.  We had all of the switches with the side towards the "off" label depressed.  We selected "Wind River Workbench (C++)", checked (selected) "Enable NetConsole", and "2CAN Ethernet Bridge" in the "CAN Driver Plugin" selection box.  Had to turn the Windows Firewall off for it to work.  This is a new requirement for 2012.
  • Version 29 installed on cRIO #2 with IP address 10.59.71.2 on Jan 14, 2012.  Michael and Parker installed it under the root account with the 2012 FRC cRIO Imaging Tool.  We had all of the switches with the side towards the "off" label depressed.  We selected "Wind River Workbench (C++)", checked (selected) "Enable NetConsole", and "2CAN Ethernet Bridge" in the "CAN Driver Plugin" selection box.
  • Version 29 installed on cRIO #3 with IP address 10.79.71.2 on Dec 4, 2011.  Michael and Dave Smith installed it under the team account.  We could not get the download to work with the switches set as described in the November 23, 2011 download notes.  We had to have them all with the side towards the "off" label depressed.  It would not work otherwise.
  • Version 29 installed on cRIO #3 with IP address 10.79.71.2 with name FRC_971_Programming on November 23, 2011.  James Kuszmaul & Michael.  We followed the directions from the 2011 FRC cRIO configuration document.  We had the safe mode switch off and all of the others on.  This is what the directions told us to do.  We used Germanium, HP/Compaq nc8430 laptop, with a standard Cat 5e Ethernet cable and the IP address set to 10.79.71.6 and the netmask set to 255.0.0.0.  While it should not matter, all of the modules were out of the unit.
  • Version 29 installed on cRIO #2 with IP address 10.59.71.2 on August 26, 2011.  Brian and Michael

Download the latest cRIO image by going to FIRSTForge.WPI.Edu Project:WPILib > File Releases > cRIO Images > List Releases

Wireless access point

The 2010 robot uses a Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N Gaming Adapter (WGA600N) to communicate with the robot control system.

  • Resetting the wireless bridge: The wireless game adapter can be reset by pressing the Reset button on the back of the Gaming Adapter for approximately five seconds, using a pin or straightened paper clip. This will reset the Gaming Adapter back to the factory default settings and assign the Gaming Adapter a static IP address of 192.168.1.250. The default user is admin and the default password is admin.
  • Follow the directions in 2.10.1 Configuration of Wireless Bridge for Robot (WGA600N) to set up the wireless gaming adapter.
  • The Linksys WGA600N manual can be found on the Linksys Support Page.
  • Additional steps taken include:
    • The FIRST documentation says that you can plug a computer and the wireless adapter to the FRC router and communicate between them by browsing to 192.168.1.250. This will not work unless the router is set to 192.168.1.?. What we did was plug the wireless adapter directly into a computer and set the computer IP Address to 192.168.1.10, the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0, and the gateway was left blank. Be sure and reset the computer to use DHCP when you are done configuring the wireless adapter.
    • Host computer was set to:
      IP address:192.168.1.10
      Subnet mask:255.255.255.0
      Gateway: Left blank
    • For the Practice bot use:
      IP address:10.59.71.1.
      gateway:10.9.71.4.
      subnet mask:255.0.0.0.
    • Network name for the practice bot was still 971.
    • Under wireless we turned on WPA-Personal for the security mode.
    • For D-link Model DAP-1522 wireless adapter that came with the 2011 kit of parts, we did the following:
      • Host computer was wired directly to the wireless gateway with a regular Ethernet cable and the network configuration was set to:
        IP address: 192.168.0.20
        Subnet mask: 255.0.0.0
        Gateway: did not set this to anything in particular.
      • D-Link DAP-1522.  Notes from 5/7/11 reset after SVR by Michael & Parker.
        • Resetting a radio to default settings
          1. Plug in the power and Ethernet connections
          2. Wait for the either the orange Bridge light or blue Access Point light to begin flashing
          3. Hold the reset button (on the back of the unit) for 10 seconds then release
          4. Wait for the light to stop flashing (this signals the radio is starting to reset)
          5. Wait for the light to resume flashing, your radio is now reset
        • Connect to it with a browser by connecting to http://192.168.0.1
        • Login with "admin" and no password.  This is written on the bottom of the device.
        • Used the automatic tool to configure it.
        • IP address
          IP address:10.59.71.1.
          gateway:10.9.71.4.
          subnet mask:255.0.0.0.
        • Wireless network name was "971".  The security is "WPA" with a password of "....h".  This needs to be the same as the router password.
        • Note: We had the switch on the D-Link set to "Bridge" and the FRC "How to Configure Your Radio 2011 FRC – LogoMotion" guide says on page 6 of 12 to set it to "Access Point".  Here are more details on the various settings:
          • The D-Link DAP 1522 is the new robot radio for the 2011 season. Some new features of this unit as compared to the 2009 and 2010 seasons include
            • Access Point mode: computers with wireless networking capabilities can connect to the DAP-1522 directly (without additional wireless routers or bridges). This is the recommended operating mode when teams are developing their robots at home
            • Bridge mode: allows the DAP-1522 to connect to an access point. This mode is used at FRC events to allow the robots on the field to connect to the field access point.
            • Four Ethernet ports: teams can now tether to the cRio through the DAP-1522 using a standard Ethernet cable. Using this feature, teams will no longer have to unplug the radio in order to tether to the cRio.

Wireless Router

  • Follow the directions in 2.10.2 Configuration of VETERAN Wireless Router for Driver Station (Linksys WRT610N) to set up the wireless Router.
  • Configure the router by entering 192.168.1.1
  • The default user is not defined so leave it blank and the default admin password is admin. Set the password to the root password used for the lab computers.
  • Turn on wireless security using WPA-Personal and use 971 as the Network Name (SSID). Use the same password on the router as the wireless game adapter. We use the Schuh robotics wireless router password when we set the devices up Sept 2010. Reset the router and the wireless game adapters to a password that works for you and tell Jai if you don't have this password.
  • Reset the router the the factory defaults by holding in the reset button for five seconds.

Log

  • Parker, Chaz, Brian, and Michael re-flashed the Competition cRIO Sept 1, 2010.