The goal of this document is to provide a brief overview of the hardware components that make up the 2014 FRC Control System. Each component will contain a brief description of the component function, a brief listing of critical connections, and a link to more documentation if available. Note that for complete wiring instructions/diagrams, please see the Wiring the 2014 Control System document, and the Power Distribution Diagram and Data Connectivity Diagram.

Note that while many of the system components have been designed to tolerate reverse polarity input or short circuits o n the output, not all components are protected from all conditions. Teams should take caution to check that all wiring is secure and correct before connecting the battery after any wiring changes.

Three different Axis camera models are supported by the FRC software, the Axis 206, Axis M1011, and Axis M1013. This document provides instructions on how to configure one of these cameras for FRC use. To follow the instructions in this document, an installation of 2014 NI FRC Update is required.

This year the NI updates have been reconfigured into a single standalone installer. This means that the FRC Driver Station, cRIO Imaging Tool and other utilities such as the Camera Configuration Tool will all be bundled into a single installer which will not require any components from the DVD. The LabVIEW update is also included in this installer and will install if a LabVIEW installation is detected. To use the DS and Imaging tool all teams must install the 2014 NI Update.

Commands are easily tested by adding a button to the SmartDashboard to trigger the command. In this way, no integration with the rest of the robot program is necessary and commands can easily be independently tested. This is the easiest way to verify commands since with a single line of code in your program, a button can be created on the SmartDashboard that will run the command. These buttons can then be left in place to verify subsystems and command operations in the future.

This has the added benefit of accommodating multiple programmers, each writing commands. As the code is checked into the main robot project, the commands can be individually tested.

The command based programming model is designed to simplify creating very easy to write and especially easy to test robot programs. All the pieces come together when it's time to see how your program works so that pieces developed by multiple programmers can be integrated and tested with the main robot program.