3. Field Radio

4. Game Adapter
WRT600 WET610N

5. cRIO

6. Driver Station

7. Camera

8. Driver Station ‘Router’
WRT610N WRT160N

9. 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

10. 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)

11. Field Radio
SSID 1540

12. Game Adapter
10.15.40.1
WRT600

13. cRIO
10.15.40.2

14. Driver Station
10.15.40.5

15. Driver Station ‘Router’
10.15.40.4
WRT160N
 `

16. LAB Connectivity
 Driver Station
 cRio
OR
 Driver Station Router
 Driver Station
 Gaming Adapter
 cRio

17. FIELD Connectivity
 Field networking equipment
 Field Radio
 Driver Station
 Gaming Adapter
 cRio

18. 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….

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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 ;-))

23. 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 ;-)

24. 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