FRC Test Mode Tutorial

[jordans]

This document describes the functionality of Test Mode for the 2019 FIRST competition season. Read through it to learn how to set up your own test.

Table of Contents

FRC Test Mode.........................................................................................................................................1

Overview...................................................................................................................................................1

Dashboard in Test Mode.......................................................................................................................... 2

      Changing Tests.................................................................................................................................. 3

     Adjust Outputs in Test Mode............................................................................................................... 3

Programming Test Mode.......................................................................................................................... 4

     Creating a Test.................................................................................................................................... 5

     Example Test SubVI Code.................................................................................................................. 8

Overview

In the Operation tab of the FRC Driver Station you can select Test Mode to run predetermined and programmed tests. The tests can range from testing different autonomous code, sensors, motors, or any small amount of code. The objective of Test Mode is to test specific hardware without having to run all of your code.

Test Mode Tab on the Dashboard

Test Mode on the Driver Station

Dashboard in Test Mode

In the image below, Test Mode is enabled and the Test tab is open on the FRC Dashboard. The yellow box shows the variables tree that updates the variables called in the selected tests. The red box is a drop down menu that allows you to select different pre-programmed tests. The step text and progress bar, in the blue box, output data during the test. The text and progress bar can be modified in the Test.vi block diagram for each individual test. It is not a requirement to use either the text or progress bar, however they are helpful in understanding what the robot is doing during the test for documentation.

 

Changing Tests 

While still in Test mode, once one test has fully completed, you can click on the check Select the test to run dropdown and the test will immediately start to run. If the test runs infinitely, make sure there is a blank string wired to the String input of an NT Write String function at the end of your test code.

 

Adjust Outputs in Test Mode

Test Mode allows you to change the output of certain settings, like the motors or camera settings. Any value with two asterisks ** in the Network Table, marked by the yellow box in the image below, can be manually adjusted. Use the control (red box) to adjust the settings on the robot in simulator or hardware. Select the Enable button shown in the green box to make the settings active.

 

Programming Test Mode

Open the Test.vi either from the Project Explorer in an FRC roboRIO Robot Project or from the reference in Robot Main.vi.

 

              Project Explorer of a roboRIO Robot Project

The Test.vi is where you will create new tests and modify existing tests. The Test.vi will run in parallel with the Robot Main.vi when Test is enabled in the Driver Station.

Creating a Test

 In the Block Diagram of the Test.vi, modify the Default Tests string array to add new test names to the FRC Dashboard drop down menu. Erase the current text and replace with your desired test name. To add or delete elements, right click the text box and navigate to Data Operations » Insert or Delete Element.

                                    Test.vi Block Diagram: Default Tests

Next, add the new test name to the case structure. Select the Example Test case from the Case Structure, right click on the Case Structure border and select Duplicate Case. Inside quotations, enter the same name you wrote in the Default Tests, string array, for example “Drive Test”. You do not have to duplicate the Example Test, but it is the simplest way to modify your first test.

                      Test.vi Block Diagram: Duplicating the Example Test case

Now you are ready to modify the code to allow the test to complete your desired action. The simplest modification is to create a subVI and add your test code into the subVI. To create a subVI, select the For Loop from the duplicate Example Test case and navigate to Edit » Create SubVI. This will keep everything in Test.vi organized and allow you to update only the necessary subVI in your project when a specific test must be edited.

                                                                       Creating a subVI

The subVI can then be designed to run the desired test code. The output of the subVI should be a blank string, in order to reset the menu in the Test tab on the FRC Dashboard. There are two ways of modifying the display in the Dashboard: the Progress Text shows the Step Text in the example code (shown in the red box), and the Progress Bar is output to a slider the in Dashboard (green box). In your Test subVI, wire constants to the NT Write String or NT Write Number functions to change the display in Dashboard. Neither of these settings is required for Test Mode; they are there to help show the progress of the test.

                Example Test subVI Code

The Test.vi runs in parallel with Robot Main.vi, therefore you must include a While Loop in the subVI if you would like the code to repeat. However, there must be a stop condition or the test will run indefinitely, preventing you from changing to a different test. If the stop condition of the While Loop is a control, make sure this VI control is always accessible when running test mode, or set up another conditional statement (see below for examples).

                                                                Close Gripper Test subVI

The gripper example above closes the gripper for 5 seconds then stops running the test. The Progress Text display on Dashboard is Close Gripper. This example is useful for verifying angle dimensions and whether the hardware is set up properly for a claw or an arm.

                                                                       Drive Test subVI

The above drive example drives the motors at a designated speed for a set amount of iterations or until the stop button is pressed. If you would like the loop to be controlled this is a good alternative so it will close after x amount of time if something else isn’t working properly. The Progress Test is Drive Motors and the progress bar increases as the iterations run.