FTC NEW TECHNOLOGY -

HARDWARE

FTC Kickoff

September 12, 2015

Agenda

• Hardware Overview

• Individual Device Specs

• Configuring Phone and Hardware

• Tips

New Electronic Modules

• New USB-enabled modules from Modern Robotics

• Power Module

• Legacy Module

• DC Motor

• Servo

• Core Device Interface (Advanced Sensor Module)

• Legacy Module

• Allows use of NXT-compatible devices

Support for Legacy Devices

New USB-Enabled Controllers

Hardware Specifics –

ZTE Speed • 1.2GHz Quad core

• 2000mAh battery

• 1GB RAM

• 8GB Flash storage, expandable

• Sensors:

• Accelerometer, Proximity, Compass, GPS, Camera

• Android Kit Kat (4.4) • Be careful not to let the phone upgrade to Lollipop (5.0+)! This is known

to cause problems.

Hardware Specifics –

Core Power Distribution Module • Contains 20A replacable fuse

• Dedicated On/Off switch (don’t forget to turn on)

• USB 500mA max per connector, 4A max for all

• 9-15V DC, 18A max

• Required by game rules to be connected to Robot

Controller Phone

• Comes with Tamiya connector to battery by default

• Recommend replacing battery and Core Power Distribution

Tamiyas with Powerpoles

Hardware Specifics –

Core Legacy Module • Supports NXT LEGO sensors, HiTechnic sensors, Matrix

controllers, and HiTechnic Motor / servo controllers

• LEGO Motors not supported

• Special modes on some ports – check specs at Modern

Robotics Website

Hardware Specifics –

Core Device Interface • 26 Ports for sensors

• Digital (logic 0 or 1) x8

• Analog (0-5V sampled to 0-1023) x8

• PWM (16-bit timer with 1 µs resolution) x2

• I2C Bus (NOT NXT I2C, 100kHz 27 byte buffer) x6

(expandable)

• Analog Output (±4V at 1mA, DC, sine, square, triangle

wave, 0-8kHz) x2

Hardware Specifics –

Core Motor Controller • Two 9-15V DC Motors

• Motor encoder connections

• Probably will want at least two of these, unless you don’t plan on using more than 2 motors…

• Operational modes: • Controlled power – motor speed and direction

• Constant speed – maintain speed even if load on motor changes

• Run to Position – use with encoder, run to a certain position and then maintain it

• Brake or float at 0% power

• Reset current encoder value

• Hardware support for reversing direction • Allows you to use one number in code to set both motors so that their

rotation causes the robot to move forwards / back instead of spin

• Monitor Battery voltage from 0-20V with 20mV resolution

Hardware Specifics –

Core Servo Controller • x6 6V DC servos 1.5A max (5A max total)

• 8-bit positioning

• Pin 1: GND; Pin 2: +6V; Pin 3: Control pulse

Hardware Specifics - Sensors

• IR Seeker V3

• I2C (100kHz)

• 30 samples / sec

• 2.4m range

• Optical Distance Sensor

• Analog (0-5V)

• 1000 samples / sec

• 0.5-8cm range

• Touch Sensor

• Digital sensor

Which should I use? Legacy vs. Core

modules • New Core modules can be purchased a la carte at

http://modernroboticsinc.com/

• Legacy Modules • Pros:

• Can save money by reusing existing hardware

• Make use of HiTechnic or LEGO sensors not available from Modern Robotics (yet?)

• Cons: • Additional access time by software to read and write values

• More susceptible to static, I2C lockups

• Core Modules • Pros:

• USB Interface is much more reliable than the custom I2C used by the NXT

• Motor / Servo controllers support the same number of motors/servos as legacy controllers

• Use Powerpole connectors – More reliable and less prone to accidental disconnect

WiFi Direct

• Android devices use WiFi Direct to connect/pair

• Robot controller acts as group owner

• Pairing is initiated from FTC Driver Station app

• Some important tips

• In general, devices should NOT be connected to any other wireless

networks

• Occasionally, it helps to clean up old, unused remembered WiFi

direct connections

Hands on Hardware setup

FTC BASIC SETUP

FOR ZTE SPEED

ftc kickoff presentation

Unboxing

Setup

Remove the SIM card from the phone by removing the rear panel of the phone. Once removed then push the SIM card in and release to pop it out. Put the rear panel on again and power on the phone. While the phone is turning on take off the plastic screen cover.

First Time

Phone Setup

When your phone first turns

on you will be prompted with

setup options. Go through

these settings and connect to

your wifi network. Once you

have entered your password

a series of errors will pop up

because it cannot connect to

the Sprint network. Do not

worry, you have already

taken the SIM out.

Once you reach the android

home screen press google

play store. Then enter either

an existing or create a new

google account. You don’t

have to put in any payment

info if you press skip.

Making Sure

the Phone

Does Not

Update

Click on the apps button in

middle of the bottom bar and

swipe to the left. Find settings

and open it.

1. Turn on Airplane mode and

make sure Wifi is on

2. Scroll down and select apps

3. Swipe left twice so you are

under the all tab and scroll

down to “Google Services

Framework”

4. Select the app and uncheck

the “Show Notifications” box

5. Click Back twice

Enable the

Phone to

Communicate

with Android

Studio

1. Scroll to the bottom and

select “About Phone”

2. Scroll to the bottom again

and tap “SW Version” 7

times

3. Select the new “Developer

Options tab” and Enable

“USB Debugging”

4. Go back and select the

“Connect to PC” tab

5. Select “Install Driver”

6. Click back

Display

Settings

1. Select the “Display”

tab

2. Click “Brightness” and

turn off auto

brightness

3. Move the slider down

to ¼ brightness

4. Select “Sleep” and

change the auto sleep

to 30 minutes

5. Uncheck the “Auto-

rotate Screen” box

Install the

Drivers

1. Get the USB cord out of

the box and plug your

phone into the computer

2. On your phone select

“OK” to allow USB

debugging

3. On your PC click “Run

AutoRun.exe” and click

“Next” through the wizard

4. Wait for drivers to install

5. Verify “USB Debugging” is

on

6. Select “Charge Only”

Installing

the FTC

Driver

Station and

FTC Robot

Controller

You must download the

FTC apps from the google

play store.

Just search ftc on the

google play store and the

first two results are the

apps you will need.

Robot

Controller

Setting up

the Driver

Station and

Robot

Controller

apps If you have completed the

previous slides you can

pair your two phones by

following these pictures.

Note that to pair the two

phones the robot

controller app has to be

open when the pairing

search is made.

Driver

Station

Setting up

Your Robot

Controller

App for

Your Robot

Once you have your

phones paired go through

these steps to prepare

your robot for operation.

[Name]

Your screen should

look like this

FTC Basic

Setup for ZTE

Speed

Developed by:

• Austin Motz (FTC Team

10030)

• Rory Tekulve (FTC Team

6133)

• Dimple Dhawan (FTC Team

6133)

• Nils Dawson

Let’s try to

• Launch the Robot Controller app

• Create a configuration file

• Navigate the menus and screens comfortably

Naming Motors

The name of the motors in your robot controller app must match the name in your program. To change the name of the motors in your app you must edit the Active Robot Configuration.

Then, tap the controller the motor or servo is connected to. Ensure the box is checked next to the motor and type a name for the device. The name must EXACTLY match the name in your program for it to work.

Let’s try to…

• Launch the Driver Station app

• Connect gamepad (and verify Gamepad type)

• Assign driver number

• Navigate menus and screens comfortably

Setting up the

Controllers

To connect the driver controllers you must select which controller is driver 1 and 2.

Driver 1 must press START and A at the same time to setup the controller.

Driver 2 must press START and B at the same time to setup the controller.

Then select the program you want the robot to run from the Select Op Mode menu. Then press the start button to make the robot start executing the program.

Why Do We Configure?

• We need to tell the robot controller what devices are

connected to the Android phone

• App has the ability to scan and detect USB modules, but

you still have to tell it what devices are connected to the

modules.

• The names you provide in the configuration file are the

names that you will use to reference a device in your op

mode.

Serial Numbers…

• Each device that is attached to the USB hub (Power

Module) has its own serial number

• When the Robot Controller scans the bus to look for

devices, it identifies devices by serial number.

• USB does not use the port number of the hub to identify a

module.

General Tips

• Use available tools to help troubleshoot issues with a bot

• Ping time (indicates network quality and robot controller availability)

• Battery voltage

• Log files (via app or using ADB to pull from device)

• Telemetry

• Make sure cables are secured and strain relief

• Make sure Android device is properly mounted

• Secure

• Protected

• But not obscured by too much metal (it’s a wireless device)

Hardware Tips

• Remember to designate which driver a gamepad

represents (“START” plus “A” or “B”)

• Make sure the FtcRobotController app is the default app

for your Modern Robotics hardware modules

• Power on my robot and its modules before connecting the

Android device to the Power Module

• Monitor the power levels on the main robot battery and

each Android device

• Make sure the device names in your configuration file

match the names exactly in your op mode