Status Light Quick Reference

Many of the components of the FRC® Control System have indicator lights that can be used to quickly diagnose problems with your robot. This guide shows each of the hardware components and describes the meaning of the indicators. Photos and information from Innovation FIRST and Cross the Road Electronics.

A compact and printable Status Light Quick Reference is available.

Robot Signal Light (RSL)

Solid ON	Robot On and Disabled
Blinking	Robot On and Enabled
Off	Robot Off, roboRIO not powered or RSL not wired properly

roboRIO

Power	Green	Power is good
	Amber	Brownout protection tripped, outputs disabled
	Red	Power fault, check user rails for short circuit
Status	On while the controller is booting, then should turn off
	2 blinks	Software error, reimage roboRIO
	3 blinks	Safe Mode, restart roboRIO, reimage if not resolved
	4 blinks	Software crashed twice without rebooting, reboot roboRIO, reimage if not resolved
	Constant flash or stays solid on		Unrecoverable error
Radio	Not currently implemented
Comm	Off	No Communication
	Red Solid	Communication with DS, but no user code running
	Red Blinking	E-stop triggered
	Green Solid	Good communications with DS
Mode	Off	Outputs disabled (robot in Disabled, brown-out, etc.)
	Orange	Autonomous Enabled
	Green	Teleop Enabled
	Red	Test Enabled
RSL	See above

OpenMesh Radio

Power	Blue	On or Powering up
	Blue Blinking	Powering Up
Eth Link	Blue	Link up
	Blue Blinking	Traffic Present
WiFi	Off	Bridge mode, Unlinked or non-FRC firmware
	Red	AP, Unlinked
	Yellow/Orange	AP, Linked
	Green	Bridge mode, Linked

Power Distribution Panel

PDP Status/Comm LEDs

LED	Strobe	Slow
Green	No Fault - Robot Enabled	No Fault - Robot Disabled
Orange	NA	Sticky Fault
Red	NA	No CAN Comm

Tip

If a PDP LED is showing more than one color, see the PDP LED special states table below. For more information on resolving PDP faults see the PDP User Manual.

Note

Note that the No CAN Comm fault will occur if the PDP cannot communicate with the roboRIO via CAN Bus.

PDP Special States

LED Colors	Problem
Red/Orange	Damaged Hardware
Green/Orange	In Bootloader
No LED	No Power/ Incorrect Polarity

Power Distribution Hub

Note

These led patterns only apply to firmware version 21.1.7 and later

PDH Status LED

LED Color	Status
Blue Solid	Device on but no communication established
Green Solid	Main Communication with roboRIO established
Magenta Blinking	Keep Alive Timeout
Solid Cyan	Secondary Heartbeat (Connected to REV Hardware Client)
Orange/Blue Blinking	Low Battery
Orange/Yellow Blinking	CAN Fault
Orange/Cyan Blinking	Hardware Fault
Orange/Red Blinking	Fail Safe
Orange/Magenta Blinking	Device Over Current

Channel LEDs

LED Color	Status
Off	Channel has voltage and is operating as expected
Red Solid	Channel has NO voltage and there is an active fault. Check for tripped or missing circuit breaker / fuse
Red Blinking	Sticky fault on the channel. Check for tripped circuit breaker / fuse.

Voltage Regulator Module

The status LEDs on the VRM indicate the state of the two power supplies. If the supply is functioning properly the LED should be lit bright green. If the LED is not lit or is dim, the output may be shorted or drawing too much current.

Pneumatics Control Module (PCM)

PCM Status LED

LED	Strobe	Slow	Long
Green	No Fault Robot Enabled	Sticky Fault	NA
Orange	NA	Sticky Fault	NA
Red	NA	No CAN Comm or Solenoid Fault (Blinks Solenoid Index)	Compressor Fault

Tip

If a PCM LED is showing more than one color, see the PCM LED special states table below. For more information on resolving PCM faults see the PCM User Manual.

Note

Note that the No CAN Comm fault will not occur only if the device cannot communicate with any other device, if the PCM and PDP can communicate with each other, but not the roboRIO.

PCM LED Special States Table

LED	Problems
Red/Orange	Damaged Hardware
Green/Orange	In Bootloader
No LED	No Power/Incorrect Polarity

PCM Comp LED

This is the Compressor LED. This LED is green when the compressor output is active (compressor is currently on) and off when the compressor output is not active.

PCM Solenoid Channel LEDs

These LEDs are lit red if the Solenoid channel is enabled and not lit if it is disabled.

Pneumatic Hub

Note

These led patterns only apply to firmware version 21.1.7 and later

PH Status LED

LED Color	Status
Blue Solid	Device on but no communication established
Green Solid	Main Communication established
Magenta Blinking	Keep Alive Timeout
Solid Cyan	Secondary Heartbeat (connected to REV HW Client)
Orange/Blue Blinking	Hardware Fault
Orange/Yellow Blinking	CAN Fault
Orange/Red Blinking	Fail Safe
Orange/Magenta Blinking	Device Over Current
Orange/Green Blinking	Orange/Green Blinking

Compressor LED

LED Color	Status
Green Solid	Compressor On
Black Solid	Compressor Off

Solenoid LEDs

LED Color	Status
Green Solid	Solenoid On
Black Solid	Solenoid Off

Talon SRX & Victor SPX & Talon FX Motor Controllers

Status LEDs During Normal Operation

LEDs	Colors	Talon SRX State
Both	Blinking Green	Forward throttle is applied. Blink rate is proportional to Duty Cycle.
Both	Blinking Red	Reverse throttle is applied. Blink rate is proportional to Duty Cycle.
None	None	No power is being applied to Talon SRX
LEDs Alternate	Off/Orange	CAN bus detected, robot disabled
LEDs Alternate	Off/Slow Red	CAN bus/PWM is not detected
LEDs Alternate	Off/Fast Red	Fault Detected
LEDs Alternate	Red/Orange	Damaged Hardware
LEDs Strobe towards (M-)	Off/Red	Forward Limit Switch or Forward Soft Limit
LEDs Strobe towards (M+)	Off/Red	Reverse Limit Switch or Reverse Soft Limit
LED1 Only (closest to M+/V+)	Green/Orange	In Boot-loader
LEDs Strobe towards (M+)	Off/Orange	Thermal Fault / Shutoff (Talon FX Only)

Status LEDs During Calibration

Status LEDs Blink Code	Talon SRX State
Flashing Red/Green	Calibration Mode
Blinking Green	Successful Calibration
Blinking Red	Failed Calibration

B/C CAL Blink Codes

B/C CAL Button Color	Talon SRX State
Solid Red	Brake Mode
Off	Coast Mode

SPARK-MAX Motor Controller

REV Robotics SPARK

Victor-SP Motor Controller

Brake/Coast/Cal Button/LED - Red if the controller is in brake mode, off if the controller is in coast mode

Status

Green	Solid	Full forward output
	Blinking	Proportional to forward output voltage
Red	Solid	Full reverse output
	Blinking	Proportional to forward output voltage
Orange	Solid	FRC robot disabled, PWM signal lost, or signal in deadband range (+/- 4% output)
Red/Green	Blinking	Ready for calibration. Several green flashes indicates successful calibration, and red several times indicates unsuccessful calibration.

Talon Motor Controller

Green	Solid	Full forward output
	Blinking	Proportional to forward output voltage
Red	Solid	Full reverse output
	Blinking	Proportional to reverse output voltage
Orange	Solid	No CAN devices are connected
	Blinking	Disabled state, PWM signal lost, FRC robot disabled, or signal in deadband range (+/- 4% output)
Off		No input power to Talon
Red/Green	Flashing	Ready for calibration. Several green flashes indicates successful calibration, and red several times indicates unsuccessful calibration.

Victor888 Motor Controller

Green	Solid	Full forward output
	Blinking	Successful calibration
Red	Solid	Full reverse output
	Blinking	Unsuccessful calibration
Orange	Solid	Neutral/brake
Red/Green	Blinking	Calibration mode

Jaguar Motor Controller

LED State	Module Status
Normal Operating Conditions
Solid Yellow	Neutral (speed set to 0)
Fast Flashing Green	Forward
Fast Flashing Red	Reverse
Solid Green	Full-speed forward
Solid Red	Full-speed reverse
Fault Conditions
Slow Flashing Yellow	Loss of servo or Network link
Fast Flashing Yellow	Invalid CAN ID
Slow Flashing Red	Voltage, Temperature, or Limit Switch fault condition
Slow Flashing Red and Yellow	Current fault condition
Calibration or CAN Conditions
Flashing Red and Green	Calibration mode active
Flashing Red and Yellow	Calibration mode failure
Flashing Green and Yellow	Calibration mode success
Slow Flashing Green	CAN ID assignment mode
Fast Flashing Yellow	Current CAN ID (count flashes to determine ID)
Flashing Yellow	CAN ID invalid (that is, Set to 0) awaiting valid ID assignment

Digilent DMC-60

The DMC60C contains four RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) LEDs and one Brake/Coast CAL LED. The four RGB LEDs are located in the corners and are used to indicate status during normal operation, as well as when a fault occurs. The Brake/Coast CAL LED is located in the center of the triangle, which is located at the center of the housing, and is used to indicate the current Brake/Coast setting. When the center LED is off, the device is operating in coast mode. When the center LED is illuminated, the device is operating in brake mode. The Brake/Coast mode can be toggled by pressing down on the center of the triangle, and then releasing the button.

At power-on, the RGB LEDs illuminate Blue, continually getting brighter. This lasts for approximately five seconds. During this time, the motor controller will not respond to an input signal, nor will the output drivers be enabled. After the initial power-on has completed, the device begins normal operation and what gets displayed on the RGB LEDs is a function of the input signal being applied, as well as the current fault state. Assuming that no faults have occurred, the RGB LEDs function as follows:

PWM Signal Applied	LED State
No Input Signal or Invalid Input Pulse Width	Alternate between top (LED1 and LED2) and bottom (LED3 and LED4) LEDs being illuminated Red and Off.
Neutral Input Pulse Width	All 4 LEDs illuminated Orange.
Positive Input Pulse Width	LEDs blink Green in a clockwise circular pattern (LED1 → LED2 → LED3 → LED4 → LED1). The LED update rate is proportional to the duty cycle of the output and increases with increased duty cycle. At 100% duty cycle, all 4 LEDs are illuminated Green.
Negative Input Pulse Width	LEDs blink Red in a counter-clockwise circular pattern (LED1 → LED4 → LED3 → LED2 → LED1). The LED update rate is proportional to the duty cycle of the output and increases with increased duty cycle. At 100% duty cycle, all 4 LEDs are illuminated Red.

CAN Bus Control State	LED State
No Input Signal or CAN bus error detected	Alternate between top (LED1 and LED2) and bottom (LED3 and LED4) LEDs being illuminated Red and Off.
No CAN Control Frame received within the last 100ms or the last control frame specified modeNoDrive (Output Disabled)	Alternate between top (LED1 and LED2) and bottom (LED3 and LED4) LEDs being illuminated Orange and Off.
Valid CAN Control Frame received within the last 100ms. The specified control mode resulted in a Neutral Duty Cycle being applied to Motor Output	All 4 LEDs illuminated solid Orange.
Valid CAN Control Frame received within the last 100ms. The specified control mode resulted in a Positive Duty Cycle being Motor Output	LEDs blink Green in a clockwise circular pattern (LED1 → LED2 → LED3 → LED4 → LED1). The LED update rate is proportional to the duty cycle of the output and increases with increased duty cycle. At 100% duty cycle, all 4 LEDs are illuminated Green.
Valid CAN Control Frame received within the last 100ms. The specified control mode resulted in a Negative Duty Cycle being Motor Output	LEDs blink Red in a counter-clockwise circular pattern (LED1 → LED4 → LED3 → LED2 → LED1). The LED update rate is proportional to the duty cycle of the output and increases with increased duty cycle. At 100% duty cycle, all 4 LEDs are illuminated Red.

Fault Color Indicators

When a fault condition is detected, the output duty cycle is reduced to 0% and a fault is signaled. The output then remains disabled for 3 seconds. During this time the onboard LEDs (LED1-4) are used to indicate the fault condition. The fault condition is indicated by toggling between the top (LED1 and LED2) and bottom (LED3 and LED4) LEDs being illuminated Red and off. The color of the bottom LEDs depends on which faults are presently active. The table below describes how the color of the bottom LEDs maps to the presently active faults.

Color	Over Temperature	Under Voltage
Green	On	Off
Blue	Off	On
Cyan / Aqua	On	On

Break/Coast Mode

When the center LED is off the device is operating in coast mode. When the center LED is illuminated the device is operating in brake mode. The Brake/Coast mode can be toggled by pressing down on the center of the triangle and then releasing the button.

Venom Motor Controller

Mindsensors SD540B (PWM)

Power LED	Off	Power is not supplied
	Red	Power is supplied
Motor LED	Red	Forward direction
	Green	Reverse direction
PWM Signal LED	Red	No valid PWM signal is detected
	Green	Valid PWM signal is detected

Mindsensors SD540C (CAN Bus)

Power LED	Off	Power is not supplied
	Red	Power is supplied
Motor LED	Red	Forward direction
	Green	Reverse direction
CAN Signal LED	Blinking quickly	No CAN devices are connected
	Off	Connected to the roboRIO and the driver station is open

REV Robotics Servo Power Module

Status LEDs

Each channel has a corresponding status LED that will indicate the sensed state of the connected PWM signal. The table below describes each state’s corresponding LED pattern.

State	Pattern
No Signal	Blinking Amber
Left/Reverse Signal	Solid Red
Center/Neutral Signal	Solid Amber
Right/Forward Signal	Solid Green

• 6V Power LED off, dim or flickering with power applied = Over-current shutdown

Spike relay configured as a motor, light, or solenoid switch

Inputs		Outputs		Indicator	Motor Function
Forward (White)	Reverse (Red)	M+	M-
Off	Off	GND	GND	Orange	Off/Brake Condition (default)
On	Off	+12v	GND	Green	Motor rotates in one direction
Off	On	GND	+12v	Red	Motor rotates in opposite direction
On	On	+12v	+12v	Off	Off/Brake Condition

Note

‘Brake Condition’ refers to the dynamic stopping of the motor due to the shorting of the motor inputs. This condition is not optional when going to an off state.

Spike relay configured as for one or two solenoids

Inputs		Outputs		Indicator	Motor Function
Forward (White)	Reverse (Red)	M+	M-
Off	Off	GND	GND	Orange	Both Solenoids Off (default)
On	Off	+12v	GND	Green	Solenoid connected to M+ is ON
Off	On	GND	+12v	Red	Solenoid connected to M- is ON
On	On	+12v	+12v	Off	Both Solenoids ON

CANCoder Encoder

LED Color	LED Brightness	CAN Bus detection	Magnet Field Strength	Description
Off	Off			CANCoder is not powered
Yellow/Green	Bright			Device is in boot-loader. See user manual for more information.
Slow Red Blink	Bright	CAN bus has been lost
Rapid Red Blink	Dim	CAN bus never detected since boot	Magnet is out of range (<25mT or >135mT)
Rapid Yellow Blink			Magnet in range with slightly reduced accuracy (25-45mT or 75-135mT)
Rapid Green Blink			Magnet in range (between 45mT - 75mT)
Rapid Red Blink	Bright	CAN bus present	Magnet is out of range (<25mT or >135mT)
Rapid Yellow Blink			Magnet in range with slightly reduced accuracy (25-45mT or 75-135mT)
Rapid Green Blink			Magnet in range (between 45mT - 75mT)