Field Radio
Game Adapter
WRT600 WET610N
cRIO
Driver Station
Camera
Driver Station ‘Router’ WRT610N WRT160N
Basic Networking TCP/IP connected devices
Wireless
Wired
Parts of an IP config
IP address (10.15.40.1)
Subnet mask (255.0.0.0)
Default gateway (10.15.40.4) In this example, 10 is network and 15.40.1 is host
If you change the mask to 255.255.255.0, then 10.15.40 is network and 1 is host
For FIRST, you are basically talking within your own subnet
More Basic Networking Wireless/Radio terminology
Band 5Ghz
Channel 36
SSID 1540
Vlan 1540
Association
Basic Tools
Ping is your friend
There are others (ipconfig, tracert, arp, netstat)
Field Radio SSID 1540
Game Adapter 10.15.40.1
WRT600
cRIO 10.15.40.2
Driver Station 10.15.40.5
Driver Station ‘Router’ 10.15.40.4
WRT160N
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LAB Connectivity Driver Station
cRio
OR
Driver Station Router
Driver Station
Gaming Adapter
cRio
FIELD Connectivity Field networking equipment
Field Radio
Driver Station
Gaming Adapter
cRio
FIELD Connectivity FMS tells the router and field radio to set up the field for
team 1540 Field Radio broadcasts SSID 1540
Vlan 1540 is ready to talk to devices with 10.15.40.x addresses
Ditto for the other 5 teams on the field
Traffic from the DS goes to the field networking equipment via ethernet connection, out field radio to GA on robot, through ethernet to cRio
Traffic from the cRio goes through ethernet to GA, over wireless SSID to field radio, back to field network gear and DS through ethernet
Ditto for the other 5 teams on the field….
Avoiding “No Comms” Devise pre and post match checks for your robots and
then DO them consistently ;-)
Don’t monkey with the network settings on your devices – set them up as instructed in the FIRST documentation OR at the advice of FTA
Keep your DS Operating System clean. Malware can impact your ability to effectively talk on a network
Avoiding “No Comms” Make sure you have good, solid power to GA and cRio
(as in, no loose cables)
Make sure you have nice, solid ethernet to cRio and DS
No loose cables (robot gets banged around…)
No bad spring pins
No junk in the interface ports
Be friendly to the classmate ethernet jack
Avoiding “No Comms” Location, location, location ;-) Mount the GA
someplace happy.
Pay attention to that cute little reset button
Bumps!
“damped, non oscillary mount”
You need quick access to GA and cRio on the field
Avoiding “No Comms” Location, location, location ;-) Wireless communication is
inherently moody – there are boatloads of things that affect it, and we can’t SEE any of them with our eyes... No conductive surfaces
Static!
Orientation of internal antenna…
Don’t bury the GA deep in the robot
Don’t encase in metal or other things that interfere with radio waves
Avoid polycarb ;-)
Avoid high EM fields (translate: Motors, power lines)
Avoid faraday cages (steel frames ;-))
Avoiding “No Comms” Boot sequence on the field
Come to the field with your DS and Robot off
Wait for your team # on the display
Boot up DS, login as driver and wait for happy green lights on DS
Power up robot
Smile, and have a good match
The FTA is your friend ;-)
Thanks for staying awake!
Questions?
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/EU/en/products/WET610N
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/UK/en/support/WRT160N
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/UK/en/support/WRT610N
https://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/wireless/lbc/WGA600N