Initial Robot Configuration

Team 13380

QUANTUM STINGERS

The Phones

Phones for FTC

• For FTC, every team/robot needs two Android phones
• Starting with the 2020-2021 FTC Season, only Motorola Phones will be allowed (see a specific list in FTC Game Manual 1, page 33)
• Two phones:
• Driver Station Phone (DS)
• Used by drivers/coach during robot game to start autonomous, etc.
• Robot Controller Phone (RC)
• Stays on robot, connected to Rev Hub (an alternative to this phone is using the Rev Control Hub)

Setting Up the Phones

• Steps to Setting Up
• Rename the phone using the following format: “Team# - DS” for Driver Station and “Team# - RC” for Robot Controller
• You can do this by going to Settings → Wifi → Advanced Wifi→ Wifi Direct → Configure Device
• Install the FTC Driver Station App on the DS phone, which can be found through the Google Play Store, on the Driver Station Phone.
• Similarly install the FTC Robot Controller App on the RC phone

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• For the next step, Pairing, make sure both phones are in Airplane mode but still keep the Wifi on

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Pairing the Phones

• Pairing the DS and RC phones will allow flow of telemetry data between phones, gamepad input, and selection of operation modes.
• Steps to Pairing:
• Verify that Robot Status is “Running” on the Robot Controller App on the RC phone
• On the DS phone, launch the pairing: go to Driver Station App → the triple-dot pop-up menu → Settings → Pairing Method → Wifi Direct
• Still under Settings → Pair with Robot Controller; then find and select your RC phone in the options (the name that you initially set the phone to should show up; if it doesn’t, check the wifi for the phones)
• On the RC phone, accept the pairing in the Robot Controller App

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This is how the DS app should look like →

This is how the RC app should ← look like

Rev Expansion Hub:

What is the Rev Expansion Hub?

• A Rev Expansion Hub is the FIRST-approved control hub/port.
• It is a hardware controller and interface that communicates between all the robot’s motors, servos, sensors, battery, robot switch, and the Robot Controller phone.
• It has various external ports that are used to make these connections
• The robot can have a maximum of 2 Rev Expansion Hubs

Rev Hub External Ports

Switch/ Battery→

Motors/ Encoders→

Servos^

← Color/Distance Sensor

← Touch Sensor

RS485

UART

12C

DIGITAL

Analog

^Mini USB Port (for phone)

XT30 Power ← Port

← Hub to Hub

Connection

Making Connections

• Rev Hub to RC Phone
• USB Type A male to type B-mini male cable
• Micro USB OTG adapter
• Connect the USB type B-mini end to the Mini USB port on Rev Hub
• Plug in the Type A end into the OTG adapter
• Plug in the adapter to the RC phone

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• Rev Hub to the Battery/Switch
• Rev Switch
• Rev Tamiya to XT30 Adapter
• 12V Battery
• Connect one of the Switch cables to the Adapter
• Connect the Tamiya Adapter to that of the Battery
• Connect the other end of the Switch to the top left battery port on the Rev Hub, as shown

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Connections Continued...

• Rev Hub to DC Motors
• Anderson Powerpole to JST VH Adapter
• Most of the DC motors should already have an Anderson Powerpole connector
• Connect the motor’s Anderson Powerpole to that of the adapter
• Plug in the Adapter to a Motor Port on the left side of the Expansion Hub, under the battery/switch
• Encoders are plugged in to the small port directly next to where the corresponding motor is plugged into
• Rev Hub to Servos
• Just connect the 3-wire connector of the Servo to one of the Servo Ports at the bottom of the Rev Hub
• Rev Hub to Sensors
• Color Distance Sensors have 4-wire connectors that plug into the Ports labeled “12C” on the right side of the Rev Hub
• Touch Sensors have 4-wire connectors that plug into the Ports labeled “Digital” on the right side of the Rev Hub

Anderson Powerpole →

JST VH→

A full layout:

Servo:

Motor →

← Encoder

Rev Hub to Rev Hub Connection

• One Rev Expansion Hub has 4 motor and 6 servo ports
• For teams that use two Rev Hubs to accommodate for all the robot hardware, both Rev Hubs must be connected. Only one of the Rev Hubs will be connected to the RC phone.
• Part 1
• By default, all Rev Hubs have an equal, predefined serial address (2)
• In order to connect two Rev Hubs, their addresses must be different, so one of them needs to be reconfigured
• Connect one Rev Hub to the Robot Controller Phone and the Switch/Battery
• Open RC App
• Create a temporary configuration file
• Go to Settings → Advanced Settings→ Expansion Hub Address Change
• Now, change the current address from 2 to another value
• Click Done
• Delete the Temporary configuration file and create a new, permanent one

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Rev Hub to Rev Hub Connection

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• Part 2: Wire Connections
• Disconnect Rev Hub from phone and Battery/Switch
• Use a XT30 Extension Cable → Plug into the XT30 Power ports of both Rev Hubs
• Use a 3-pin JST PH Cable → Plug into RS485 Ports of both Rev Hubs
• Connect one of the Rev Hubs to the RC Phone, and the other Rev Hub to the Switch/Battery
• Make sure that both of these connections are made with only 1 continuous wire each (no extensions)

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This is how it should look:

← JST Cable

XT30 Ext.

Robot Configuration

What is Robot Configuration?

• To communicate with any motors, servos, or sensors wired to the Rev Hub’s external ports, you must configure them in your Robot Controller Phone
• Configuration is based off of which hardware parts are connected to which Rev Hub Port
• Every external port on the Rev Hub has a label (ex. Motor Port 1 or RS485 Port 2, etc.) This label is used to identify how the hardware is connected to the Rev Hub
• The hardware parts (motors, servos, sensors) should also be named (ex. Back_Left_Motor); this name should be consistent with your code
• Configuration is done on the Robot Controller Phone
• The Phone must be physically connected to the Rev Expansion Hub(s)
• The robot must be configured in order to run any programs

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Steps to Configuration

• Steps to Configuration:
• Physically connect RC phone to the Rev Hub
• Go to the Robot Controller App
• Click on triple-dot for the drop down menu
• Click “Configure Robot”
• For the first-ever Configuration
• Click New
• Click Scan to find all connected Rev Hubs
• Click on the Rev Hub that you want to configure
• Now you should be able to a list of ports
• Click on the one you want to configure (ex. motors)
• Now you will see a list of ports (0,1,2,3...)
• Under the corresponding port, click the drop-down menu and select the correct robot part type
• Make sure that your configuration matches the actual connections on the Rev Hub
• For example, if Back_Left_Motor is plugged into Motors Port 0 of Rev Hub1, type “Back_Left_Motor” in Rev Expansion Hub Portal 1 → Motors → Port 0
• After configuring all hardware parts, click Done → Save

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Steps to Configuration:

Credits

• This lesson was written by Vennela Jonnala of Team 13380 (Quantum Stingers) for FTCTutorials.com
• You can contact the author at vennelashriya@gmail.com

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• More lessons for FIRST Tech Challenge are available at www.FTCtutorials.com

Copyright 2020 FTCTutorials.com (Last edit 4/1/2020)

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