Recent Updates

  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    C++/Java Code

    The Identifying the Targets section explains a theoretical approach to locating the Vision Targets on the 2014 FRC Field. This document will cover the details of C++ and Java examples which implement this theoretical approach. Note that in addition to the typical differences between the C++ and Java WPILib code, there are also a few additional differences prompted by the way the NIVision functions are accessed from the Java code. Through the syntax may differ slightly the general approaches are similar enough that this document will walk through the C++ code which should provide sufficient insight into the function for both C++ and Java teams.

    Manual Vision Processing
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    LabVIEW Code

    The previous articles detailed the theoretical approach to identifying the Vision Targets on the 2014 FRC Field. This article details the implementation in the LabVIEW code that matches this theoretical approach.

    Manual Vision Processing
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    Stale data and SmartDashboard

    SmartDashboard uses NetworkTables for communicating values between the robot and the driver station laptop. Network Tables acts as a distributed table of name and value pairs. If a name/value pair is added to either the client (laptop) or server (robot) it is replicated to the other. If a name/value pair is deleted from, say, the robot but the SmartDashboard or TableViewer are still running, then when the robot is restarted, the old values will still appear in the SmartDashboard and TableViewer because they never stopped running and continue to have those values in their tables. When the robot restarts, those old values will be replicated to the robot.

    To ensure that the SmartDashboard and TableViewer are showing exactly the same values, it is necessary to restart all of them at the same time. That way, old values that one is holding won't get replicated to the others.

    This usually isn't a problem if the program isn't constantly changing, but if the program is in development and the set of keys being added to NetworkTables is constantly changing, then it might be necessary to do the restart of everything to accurately see what is current.

    Manual SmartDashboard
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    SmartDashboard namespace

    SmartDashboard uses NetworkTables to send data between the robot and the Dashboard (Driver Station) computer. NetworkTables sends data as name, value pairs, like a distributed hashtable between the robot and the computer. When a value is changed in one place, its value is automatically updated in the other place. This mechanism and a standard set of name (keys) is how data is displayed on the SmartDashboard.

    There is a hierarchical structure in the name space creating a set of tables and subtables. SmartDashboard data is in the SmartDashboard subtable and LiveWindow data is in the LiveWindow subtable as shown below.

    For informational purposes the names and values can be displayed using the TableViewer application that is installed in the same location as the SmartDashboard. It will display all the NetworkTable keys and values as they are updated.

    Manual SmartDashboard
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    Getting Started With the Screen Steps Documentation

    ScreenStepsLive is a new tool that FRC/WPI are using to create and present documentation. This document is a brief introduction to the ScreenStepsLive site and the documentation contained here.

    Manual Getting Started With the 2014 Control System
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    Identifying and Processing the Targets

    Once an image is captured, the next step is to identify Vision Target(s) in the image. This document will walk through one approach to identifying the 2014 targets and distinguishing between targets for Hot and not Hot goals. Note that the images used in this section were taken with the camera intentionally set to underexpose the images, producing very dark images with the exception of the lit targets, see the section on Camera Settings for details.

    Manual Vision Processing
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    Camera Settings

    It is very difficult to achieve good image processing results without good images. With a light mounted near the camera lens, you should be able to use the provided examples, the dashboard or SmartDashboard, NI Vision Assistant or a web browser to view camera images and experiment with camera settings.

    Manual Vision Processing
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    Target Info and Retroreflection

    This document describes the Vision Targets from the 2014 FRC game and the visual properties of the material making up the targets. Note that for official dimensions and drawings of all field components, please see the Official Field Drawings

    Manual Vision Processing
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    Support Resources

    In addition to the documentation here, there are a variety of other resources available to FRC teams to help understand the Control System and software.

    Manual Getting Started With the 2014 Control System
  • Updated on: Jan 20, 2023

    Synchronizing two commands

    Commands can be nested inside of command groups to create more complex commands. The simpler commands can be added to the command groups to either run sequentially (each command finishing before the next starts) or in parallel (the command is scheduled, and the next command is immediately scheduled also). Occasionally there are times where you want to make sure that two parallel command complete before moving onto the next command. This article describes how to do that.

    Manual Command based programming