Tethering required?

[jmittelman]

I understand from the released documents that each cRio will have it's own IP address. That being the case, is there any reason why the wireless router cannot be used in the pits?

[kdavidson]

People are worried about using up all the wireless bandwidth if you have six teams on the field and another 50 in the pits all competing for the same airwaves. I'm sure after this season TPTB will have a better feel for actual bandwidth usage.

[pplude92]

What about the Ethernet port, could it not be utilized as a tether? Ethernet cables are inexpensive and easily available.

[Philbot]

Yes...

You can tether directly from the Driver Station to the cRIO.

The other problem with going wireless in the pits is that the robot's wireless adapter will normally be pre-configured to connect to a "named" wi-fi access point.

So, if everyone turns on their wireless router, they will all have the same SSID (eg: "linksys_media") so it will be impossible for the robot to choose between them.

So you'd need to reconfigure both ends of the wirless link to work in the pits, and then re-reconfigure it for the field. So many potential problems.

[BrianBT103]

I understand from the released documents that each cRio will have it's own IP address. That being the case, is there any reason why the wireless router cannot be used in the pits?

Teams shouldn't need to bring their wireless router to the competitions, much like the radio that plugs into the operator interface in year's past; there is no need to bring the radio to the competition. This is because:

WHILE YOU ARE ON THE PLAYING FIELD:
Your team will be plugging into the competition port, and the wireless communication between the robot and the DS will be handled through the Field Management System.

WHILE YOU ARE IN THE PITS:
Your team will be using a wired connection between the DS and the cRIO, a standard Ethernet cable will do the trick.

I wouldn't be surprised if FIRST actually puts forth a rule that states that teams should not bring their wireless router, to prevent jamming and inconsistencies with the network on the playing field.

[DarkOps_Developer]

The use of an Ethernet cable for tethering is the recommended method for wireless operation of your robot.

The use and / or restrictions on wireless connections at Regional (and Championship) competitions is being investigated currently. There are a few issues that FIRST needs to address:

- Safety, with 40 to 60 teams in a single venue (350+ at Championship) wireless interference could cause erratic robot behavior.

- Interference with other wireless networks, either the venue's or with the FTC teams.

- Wireless reconfigurations between competition field and practice. Teams would need to verify what their robot wireless unit's configuration before entering onto the playing filed. This added complication may can problems with match play (like slow down starting matches due to mis-configured robots).

- There may be other issues as well. FIRST intends to investigate and update teams when the issue is settled. Please stand by.....