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ftctechnh / ftc_app

FTC Android Studio project to create FTC Robot Controller app.
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Potential Hardware Issue with early production Modern Robotics Power Modules #41

Open ftctechnh opened 8 years ago

ftctechnh commented 8 years ago

Modern Robotics has informed FIRST that they suspect that some of the early production Core Power Distribution Modules might have a hardware issue that can cause inconsistent behavior with the device's built-in USB hub. Devices that are affected might make it difficult for the Android Robot Controller to detect USB modules (such as the motor controller, servo controller, legacy module, and/or device interface module) that are connected through the Power Distribution Module's USB hub.

The problem requires that the module be sent back to Modern Robotics to have a part replaced on the device.

FIRST has requested from Modern Robotics additional information to help identify potentially suspect Power Distribution Modules, but currently we do not have a serial number range that can help us identify the devices which might be affected by the issue.

Modern Robotics has created a very handy utility program that can be run on a PC that can be used to scan and check all of your Modern Robotics modules (servo, dc motor, legacy and device interface). It can also be used to check your Power Module (if your PC can detect and communicate with the Modern Robotics devices that are connected through the Power Module reliably, then it's most likely a good Power Module). You can find information about the utility at the following web page:

http://modernroboticsinc.com/coredevicediscovery

If you are experiencing inconsistent USB connection issues that cannot be explained by problems with loose wiring or low battery voltage, then you should contact Modern Robotics for technical assistance to determine if you have a problematic device.

http://modernroboticsinc.com/contactus

ftclhsrobotics commented 8 years ago

Modern Robotics needs to provide a serial number list so that we can quickly resolve this issue.

The fact that the problem manifests itself as "inconsistent USB connection issues" means that it could work through the handy utitity program and still fail at other times.

Its quite easy once they identify the offending/misbehaving module any competent inventory system should be able to spit all the serial numbers of Core distribution modules that contain the bad parts

JochenFischer commented 8 years ago

My team demonstrated their simple robot at the Mini Maker Faire in Charlotte two weeks ago. The robot was being used all day long and we lost connection numerous times.

As an engineer myself, I can say that it was not loose wiring nor low battery levels.

After trying to fix the connections all day long, I found that unplugging the USB cable from the Power and USB Distribution Module and plugging it in again always fixed the issue. It appears that the fault lies with the USB connection breaking down at some point.

techied commented 8 years ago

Wow. Glad I stumbled upon this, we are losing connection randomly because of failures. Will definetly contact Modern Robotics.

mennesoft commented 8 years ago

I can also verify that our team has one of the quirky core distribution modules. Inconsistent is the best way to describe it. When you connect the same set of modules and click Detect in the Settings of the Robot Controller application, sometimes you'll get all the connected devices, but sometimes not, and if you retry you'll often get different results even if you don't touch the hardware or cables at all.

We have also experienced loss of connection, but it could be related to the system trying to detect connected hardware at startup, and then getting different results as explained above.

We'll contact Modern Robotics as well. I don't know our serial number off hand.

Kevin Menningen Team 7979

On Sat, Oct 24, 2015 at 10:37 AM, techied notifications@github.com wrote:

Wow. Glad I stumbled upon this, we are losing connection randomly because of failures. Will definetly contact Modern Robotics.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ftctechnh/ftc_app/issues/41#issuecomment-150827715.

WardBenjamin commented 8 years ago

My team has at least one dist. module with the same issues as described above by Kevin. He's right, inconsistant is the perfect way to describe it. Often, simply restarting the robot several times, or closing the app and turning the module off and back on fixes the issues related to non-detection of the hardware.

The error is always something USB-related, usually that the software can't find a motor controller. We've never had any issues with power, though.

Benjamin Ward, FTC Team 4592 Nuts & Bolts

AlecHub commented 8 years ago

Inconsistency is the nature of the race condition bug of the PDM reported here over two weeks ago.

TheOutlaws commented 8 years ago

And I am having troubles my team wants me to program the robot to go straight then turn and thiks is my first year doing android could I get a push in the right direction for this program

kokotc1 commented 8 years ago

We are experiencing this issue where we continually get the error message "Unable to open Modern Robotics USB DC Motor Controller..." I've read other posts on the FTC forum as well that restarting usually resolves the issue, but we are not seeing this resolve. Any advice for a rookie team that is supposed to complete in just 3 days who won't have time to send the module back for replacement? Thanks!

lukeboi commented 8 years ago

Try replacing the cable between the power distribution module and the phone. Please note that the FTC forum is the best place to ask questions like this, as that place gets lots of traffic.

Luke / / / / / / / /____ /_____/

kokotc1 commented 8 years ago

We've tried three different cables, all with no impact...I have posted to the FTC forum and also emailed Modern Robotics. hopefully we'll find something that works.

On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 8:42 PM, lukethecoder64 notifications@github.com wrote:

Try replacing the cable between the power distribution module and the phone. Please note that the FTC forum is the best place to ask questions like this, as that place gets lots of traffic.

Luke / / / / / / / /____ /_____/

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ftctechnh/ftc_app/issues/41#issuecomment-173449580.

rwoodley commented 8 years ago

This happens when the battery loses its charge.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 20, 2016, at 10:38 PM, kokotc1 notifications@github.com wrote:

We are experiencing this issue where we continually get the error message "Unable to open Modern Robotics USB DC Motor Controller..." I've read other posts on the FTC forum as well that restarting usually resolves the issue, but we are not seeing this resolve. Any advice for a rookie team that is supposed to complete in just 3 days who won't have time to send the module back for replacement? Thanks!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

TheOutlaws commented 8 years ago

Well i had this problem it is your Modern power module

On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 9:09 PM, Robert Woodley notifications@github.com wrote:

This happens when the battery loses its charge.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 20, 2016, at 10:38 PM, kokotc1 notifications@github.com wrote:

We are experiencing this issue where we continually get the error message "Unable to open Modern Robotics USB DC Motor Controller..." I've read other posts on the FTC forum as well that restarting usually resolves the issue, but we are not seeing this resolve. Any advice for a rookie team that is supposed to complete in just 3 days who won't have time to send the module back for replacement? Thanks!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ftctechnh/ftc_app/issues/41#issuecomment-173454348.

TheOutlaws commented 8 years ago

When we returned our power module it stopped having problems also get a new OTG cable

On Thu, Jan 21, 2016 at 11:49 AM, The Sslaiden aiden.trooper@gmail.com wrote:

Well i had this problem it is your Modern power module

On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 9:09 PM, Robert Woodley notifications@github.com wrote:

This happens when the battery loses its charge.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 20, 2016, at 10:38 PM, kokotc1 notifications@github.com wrote:

We are experiencing this issue where we continually get the error message "Unable to open Modern Robotics USB DC Motor Controller..." I've read other posts on the FTC forum as well that restarting usually resolves the issue, but we are not seeing this resolve. Any advice for a rookie team that is supposed to complete in just 3 days who won't have time to send the module back for replacement? Thanks!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ftctechnh/ftc_app/issues/41#issuecomment-173454348.

coder-bot commented 8 years ago

If you swapped out a motor controller, you will need to create a new configuration file (or update your existing file) from the Robot Controlller phone. This is because the configuration system remembers controllers by their unique serial numbers. I'm not sure if you did change any controllers, but if you did, this could be the reason why the phone is unable to open the controller.

On Thursday, January 21, 2016, TheOutlaws notifications@github.com wrote:

When we returned our power module it stopped having problems also get a new OTG cable

On Thu, Jan 21, 2016 at 11:49 AM, The Sslaiden <aiden.trooper@gmail.com javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','aiden.trooper@gmail.com');> wrote:

Well i had this problem it is your Modern power module

On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 9:09 PM, Robert Woodley < notifications@github.com javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','notifications@github.com');> wrote:

This happens when the battery loses its charge.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 20, 2016, at 10:38 PM, kokotc1 <notifications@github.com javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','notifications@github.com');> wrote:

We are experiencing this issue where we continually get the error message "Unable to open Modern Robotics USB DC Motor Controller..." I've read other posts on the FTC forum as well that restarting usually resolves the issue, but we are not seeing this resolve. Any advice for a rookie team that is supposed to complete in just 3 days who won't have time to send the module back for replacement? Thanks!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub <https://github.com/ftctechnh/ftc_app/issues/41#issuecomment-173454348 .

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ftctechnh/ftc_app/issues/41#issuecomment-173690021.

Max

dumbomammoth commented 8 years ago

We ordered a brand new power distribution module and one of the USB ports was bad and would not work upon the first try. I have now ordered the third power distribution module for our team. I will have to call and see what we can do to get this replaced. Had to pay 2nd day shipping because we are preparing for State Championship. Very frustrating for the kids.