1. FRC Control System 2016 Beta
Jeff Downs
Team 1511 – Rolling Thunder
Rob Heslin
Team 340 – GRR

2. Forward Cautionary Note!
All information based on Beta Testing done this fall
We received beta versions of control system software and documentation
Near end, docs and software are near final product
We didn’t receive any game info or part legality information!!
So…..
Be sure to read the game and robot manual after kickoff!

3. What we directly tested….
Hardware:
New OpenMesh OM5P-AN Radio
New CTRE Magnetic Encoder
Enhancements to Talon SRX functionality
Software:
Updated NI Utilities for RoboRio
Updated Driver Station Software
C++ Updates to WPILib

4. Items We Followed LabVIEW changes Java changes
New Speed/Motor Controllers
Ancillary Software Utilities
Robot Builder improvements
Robot Simulator improvements
“Smart Dashboard” and Network Tables updates
“GRIP” Image processing software

5. New 2016 Radio OpenMesh OM5P-AN
(Probably) required for all teams in 2016
Included in your 2016 Kit of Parts
12V DC input
Power supply not included in retail purchases!
Two (2) Ethernet ports
Equivalent function once FRC firmware is loaded

6. New 2016 Radio - Function Similar in function to 2015’s DAP-1522
Custom firmware will be supplied (and required) by FIRST
2.4 or 5 GHz operation, access point or bridge
Most teams use AP mode at home
Acts as DHCP server
Enforces bandwidth cap similar to competition field!
All teams use Bridge mode at competition
Mode swap done via configuration utility only! No physical switch on back!

7. New 2016 Radio - Wiring
Power from VRM module (NOT PD board!) as in 2015
2016 radio is 12V! 2015’s DAP-1522 was 5V!!
Center pin on radio is positive
Do not use 5V terminals for this year’s radio! Old VRMs may have a sticker over one of these 5V terminals that says “Radio Power”. Remove it!!
Use one of the 12V / 2A Terminal Pairs for this year’s radio!

8. New 2016 Radio - Setup Use the “FRC Radio Configuration Utility”
Separate download
No longer included in NI Update Suite
Performs 2 functions:
Configuration
Bridge / AP mode and 2.4/5 GHz band selection
WPA Key configuration
Team # and IP configuration
Firmware loading
Loads FRC-specific firmware
Resets radio to default values!

9. New 2016 Radio - Setup

10. New 2016 Radio – Setup Firmware Loading
Not needed for units received in Kit of Parts!
Use on externally purchased units
… Or to reset the radio to default config
Laptop Ethernet must be plugged into radio port furthest from the power supply!
Radio power must be unplugged before initiating the firmware load!
Must do configuration step after every firmware load!

11. CTRE Magnetic Encoder Rotational sensor Dual output
Absolute rotational position
Quad Encoder-style relative
Mounts to popular transmissions
Wires direct to Talon-SRX speed controllers
Uses fine-pitched non-FRC typical connectors
Setup programmatically via CAN bus or using roboRIO web interface
Talon-SRX can use for closed-loop motor control
… or read value back over CAN bus for other use

12. Motor Controllers

13. Hardware: Motor Controllers
All 2015 controllers remain supported in 2016
Discontinued devices: availability is left to team “recycling” and bartering!
Device
Availability (as of 1/7/16)
Notes
VeXPro Victor 888
VeXPro Victor 884
FIRSTChoice: ~2000
VeX: Discontinued
PWM only
VeXPro Jaguar
Discontinued
Formerly Texas Instruments
PWM or CAN Bus
Contains Serial-to-CAN bridge
Talon-SR
Victor-SP
Active Production
In Stock
$59.99
Talon-SRX
Pre-Order only
CAN Bus or…
PWM (less intuitive connection)
$89.99

14. Hardware: Motor Controllers
New controllers for 2016
For both of these devices….
New designs
Use traditional PWM connectors and cables
Screw terminals for power input and output
Feature forward/reverse limit switch connections
Physical brake/coast settings
Passively cooled – no fans!
Device
Availability (as of 1/7/2016)
Notes
MindSensors.com SD540
Active Production
In Stock
PWM only
$49.00
RevRobotics Spark
$45.00 Amazon Prime 2-day ship!

15. MindSensors.com SD540

16. RevRobotics Spark

17. Talon-SRX Software Updates
Additional features added to Talon-SRX
Enabled via 2016 WPILib and Talon Firmware upgrade
Benefits existing hardware! Just update FW!
Firmware included in NI Update package
Update performed via roboRIO web interface
Enhanced roboRIO web interface
Settings
Diagnostic information
Magnetic Encoder support

18. Talon-SRX Software Updates
Additional Closed Loop Control Modes:
Voltage compensation (maintain output voltage)
Target current (maintain output current)
Motion profile: give a series of positions/velocities and duration to maintain
More control of closed-loop operation:
Set Min / Max output value
Limit error value used as input to closed loop calculation
Able to use alternate units: rotations and RPM vs. plain “counts” or “counts per minute”
Informative and thorough software manual from manufacturer!

19. roboRIO Updates Automatic program restart
New firmware and image for 2016
First: Update firmware via roboRIO web interface
Second: Image roboRIO with new image
mDNS name for roboRIO changed!
Name used to access roboRIO on network and web config
2015: roborio-####.local (#### is team number)
2016: roborio-####-frc.local
To get to 1511’s roboRIO web interface in 2016:
Automatic program restart
roboRIO will restart your program if it crashes
Intended to help during competition matches

20. WPILib Updates: C++ & Java
NetworkTables rewrite
Underpinnings of “Smart Dashboard” communication
Core feature set & purpose is relatively unchanged
Fixes many, many, many, many bugs
Enhanced performance
New feature allows table values to be written periodically to roboRIO storage
Some API changes to be more user friendly
Digital filtering classes added
DigitalGlitchFilter: ignore pulses < “x” time period
LinearDigitalFilter: high & low pass, moving average

21. WPILib Updates: C++ & Java
SpeedController classes (Jaguar, Talon, etc.)
Option added to invert output polarity!
Gyro restructuring
Gyro class is now simply an interface - old Gyro class is now known as AnalogGyro
Digital gyro implementations will share Gyro interface
Calibration now separate from initialization
Calibration parameters can be set by user, rather than calculated

22. WPILib Updates: C++ & Java
RobotBase initialization changes
2015: prestart() function could be overridden to do initialization required before the robot would tell the Driver Station that it is “ready” to play matches. robotInit() was sometimes invoked after this “ready” signal was given.
This caused confusion and inconsistency across frameworks.
2016: prestart() is removed. robotInit() is now always invoked before giving the DS the “ready to play” signal
PID-related updates
Much easier to specify a minimum PID output
Improved support for velocity-oriented PID controls

23. WPILib Updates: C++ Only
Toolchain support for newer C++ revisions (C++11, C++14)
Increased use of C++ constructs across WPIlib:
Shared_ptr and unique_ptr instead of “plain” pointers
Some use of templates, mostly with STL classes
STL classes, notably std::string, vector, thread types
Task, Notifier, and synchronization types
Each of these were substantially reworked
Old code using these may need significant porting
Porting guide has details on all 2016 changes!

24. LabVIEW Changes LabVIEW 2015-based New “Command and Control” framework
Inspired by the C++/Java “Command based” framework
Optional – traditional framework remains

25. Software Utilities Robot Builder: updated Smart Dashboard: updated
New: Parameterized commands
New: Drag & Drop command group creation
New: CAN-based Talon-SRX control
New: Plug-in system for user-supplied custom controls
Bug fixes
Smart Dashboard: updated
Uses rewritten Network Tables: enhanced reliability/performance
LiveWindow Widgets for tuning of PID parameters used with closed loop control on CAN-based Jaguars and Talon-SRXs
FRCSim: updated
New: supports import of Solidworks model for simulation
GRIP: New image processing utility using OpenCV
GUI setup of image processing to be done on robot

26. Driver Station Software
Similar to 2015 in function and UI
New messages interface on main screen
Shows errors only by default (similar to 2015)
Can show user-supplied print outs from robot code (printf/cout/System.out.print)
Can also open a separate, resizable “Console” window to show user prints
Supports communicating with older (pre 2015, cRIO-based) robots – must set protocol setting on each run!

27. Software: System Requirements
Some software components of the control system will function on non-Windows computers
Driver station software and most NI-provided tools require Windows!
Radio configuration utility requires Windows
Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 have been tested
XP will not work!
roboRIO web interface requires Microsoft Silverlight
Web interface access is a must for basic configuration of roboRIO (firmware loading, device setup, diagnostic)
Silverlight plug-in support was removed in recent versions of Chrome
A non-Chrome browser that supports SilverLight is required (Internet Explorer probably is best choice for this)

28. Software Installation Packaging
Installation Steps based on Programming Language
LabVIEW teams:
Install LabVIEW from Kit DVD or Internet Download
Install NI FRC Update Suite
C++ teams:
Download and install C++ “Toolchain”
Download and install Java JDK from Oracle (not a typo!)
Download and install Eclipse IDE
Install FRC Plug-ins into Eclipse
Installing anything from LabVIEW DVD is not necessary this year
Java Teams:
Same as C++, but without C++ toolchain install
All Teams: Download and install radio configuration utility!

29. Software Installation Packaging
Installing for Driver Station only? (no programming)
Install NI Update Suite
Done!
Keeping up to date:
NI Updates provide updated tools and roboRIO images
C++ and Java plug-ins updated directly from Eclipse “Check for Updates” feature
Whenever you update either roboRIO Image or C++/Java plug-ins, be sure the versions are meant to work together
Easy rule: if you update one, check updates for the other!

30. 2016 Quick Start
Read the documentation!
Wire up control system
Remember! Radio power this year is 12V!
Setup programming computer (prior slides)
Update roboRIO using USB connection only
Update firmware via roboRIO web interface – note: recent versions of Chrome will no longer work!
Image using roboRIO imaging tool
Java users only: download and install Java for roboRIO using provided utility
Setup robot radio using the 2016 tool
Deploy a simple program from one of the examples
Run Driver Station software and setup team #
Verify basic function

31. Download URL: http://penfieldrobotics.com/controlsystem-2016.ppt