Spike Relay and Compressor Issues

[rusty]

I have been attempting to program the compressor to operate when it is enabled and to stop when it reaches 60 psi set by the pressure switch. However, the compressor did not initialize once we enabled it. I have checked the voltage going through the input with a multimeter which showed it to be 12.2V and the output side to the compressor to be 0V. Also, the LED next to relay 1 on the digital sidecar does not turn.

We have used examples of the compressor code from other teams that have made it worked. Is there a way to get power through the spike relay? And we have replaced the fuse with a new one and swapped to a new spike relay along with another digital sidecar to ensure there is no hardware issues.

[Kevin O'Connor]

Re: Spike Relay and Compressor Issues

If you do not see either of the lights next to the Relay port in use on the Digital Sidecar changing the issue is not with your Spike, it is with your pressure switch or software. Also, make sure the robot is enabled when you are testing the compressor, even though the compressor is controlled entirely by the robot, it still needs the Driver Station to be connected and enabled in order to function.

The pressure switch should be wired so that one of the terminals is connected to the signal pin of the Digital Input (the "inside" pin on the Digital Sidecar) and the other terminal should be connected to ground (the "outside" pin on the Digital Sidecar, labeled "(-)" on the housing). You can also try temporarily wiring a short circuit across the switch terminals to verify that the pressure switch is still functional (make sure to disable the robot well before the pressure exceeds 120 PSI if attempting this).

The other possible issue is the code. If the pressure switch is wired and functioning properly and the relay lights on the DSC still do not turn on, it is most likely a code issue. If you isolate the issue to the code, you can post which language you are using and I may be able to guide you in the right direction.

[rusty]

Re: Spike Relay and Compressor Issues

We are using LabView. It does not seem the LED next to the relay port on the DSC is turning on. I'm thinking it must be the code because the LED turns on whenever there are commands being sent through the port.

[Kevin O'Connor]

Re: Spike Relay and Compressor Issues

Have you tried running the "Compressor with Cylinder" LabVIEW example? You can find the example by clicking "Support" on the LabVIEW splash screen then clicking "Find FRC Examples", it is located in the Actuators folder. You will have to change the IP to run on your cRIO, instructions for doing so are located in a comment at the bottom of the code.

[rusty]

Re: Spike Relay and Compressor Issues

I have run the "Compressor and Cylinder" example and the compressor is still unresponsive. We have tested the input and output voltage of the spike relay. The input read at 12V but the output read at 0V. Does the spike relay have to actually be programmed in the code or is that implemented into he compressor vi already?

[Kevin O'Connor]

Re: Spike Relay and Compressor Issues

The Compressor VIs take care of handling the Spike Relay automatically. When you are running the Compressor example (using the white run button) you should be able to use the "Compressor Running" indicator on the Front Panel to see if the software is telling the compressor to run.

If that indicator is lit and none of the Relay lights on the Digital Sidecar are lit, the issue is likely with the Digital Sidecar or the connection between the cRIO and Sidecar.

If that indicator is not lit, the Compressor is not being commanded to run, meaning the issue is most likely in the pressure switch or its wiring (or the pressure switch port selection in the code).

[rusty]

Re: Spike Relay and Compressor Issues

We ran the compressor example and still to no avail the compressor is still unresponsive, however, we decided to flip the PWM wire on the relay port which initialized the compressor after being enabled with our code. There is still one problem we are having though. Initially, the compressor and the pressure switch performed accordingly, but after working throughout the day, the pressure switch did not shut off the compressor at 120 psi.

We've also tested the pressure switch by connecting it with tubing directly into the compressor to bypass any possible leaks, but it still does not shut off the compressor at 120 psi. It seems the coding is correct because the LED on relay port 1 has lit up. This seems to be a hardware issue for now.