Driver Station (Operator Console) Best Practices

Want to ensure the driver station isn’t a stopper for your team at the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC®) field? Building and configuring a solid driver station laptop and peripherals is an easy project. Read on to find lessons learned by many teams over thousands of matches.

Selecting hardware

Dedicate a laptop to be used solely for driving. Many teams do. A dedicated machine allows you manage the configuration for one goal – being ready to compete at the field. Dedicated means no other software except the FRC Driver Station application and associated Dashboard installed or running.

Use a business-class laptop for your driver station laptop. Why? They’re much more durable than the $300 Black Friday special at Best Buy. They’ll survive being banged around at the competition. Business-class laptops have higher quality device drivers, and the drivers are maintained for a longer period than consumer laptops. This makes your investment last longer. Lenovo ThinkPad T series and Dell Latitude are two popular business-class brands you’ll commonly see at competitions.

Consider used laptops rather than new. The FRC Driver Station application and dashboard software uses very few system resources, so you don’t need to buy a new laptop – instead, buy a cheap 4-5 year old used one. There are thousands for sale every day on eBay. You might even get one donated by a used computer store.

Building your driver station

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Two level driver station with power and USB hub in lower level. USB-C ethernet adapter provides field connectivity.

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Driver station with integrated controller holders. Controllers and field network are directly connected to laptop.

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Single level driver station with external button controls for task automation. USB-C ethernet/hub combo provides field connectivity.

It’s best if you combine your driver station laptop and all needed peripherals into a single unit.

使用以太网端口保护程序进行以太网连接。这样可以延长笔记本电脑上端口的寿命。如果您有一台带有铰接式以太网端口的消费级笔记本电脑，这尤其重要。

Robots often hit the driver station wall with large forces, which can push your driver station off the shelf. Put hook tape on the bottom of the driver station to reduce the chance of that happening. The Game Manual has details on the correct location of the tape. Shorter driver stations have lower center of gravity and are more likely to stay on the shelf.

When fastening down peripherals, it’s best to use hook and loop tape. This allows quick changes at the field when needed.

Ensure that the USB ports on the laptop are accessible.

Setting up the laptop

Once you’ve acquired your laptop, here’s a list of things to do.

  1. If you’re buying used, ensure you’re starting from a fresh Windows install.

  2. Create one account to use both for software installation and driving. This account must be a member of the Administrator group.

  3. Remove any 3rd party antivirus or antimalware software. Instead, use Windows Defender. Since you’re only connecting to the internet for Windows and FRC software updating, the risk is low.

  4. Only install software on your driver station laptop that’s needed for driving. Your goal here is to eliminate variables that might interfere with proper operation. Don’t use the driver station laptop for programming. Remove any unneeded preinstalled software (“bloatware”) that came with the machine. Don’t use the laptop for gaming back at the hotel the night before the event.

  5. Avoid managed Windows installations from the school’s IT department. These deployments are built for the school environment and often come with unwanted software that interferes with your robot’s operation.

  6. Make these power settings for both the Plugged in and On battery profiles, by navigating to Start -> Settings -> System -> Power and battery

    1. Set “Make my device sleep after” to Never for both Plugged in and On battery

    2. Turn off Energy Saver

    3. Set Power Mode to Best Performance

    4. 进行上面的更改后，请确保笔记本电脑电池至少可以续航一个小时。这样，机器人和drive team就可以在没有电源的情况下有足够的时间穿过队列到达联盟站。

  7. If you are running a non-English version of Windows, set the user to English prior to doing any software installation. If your laptop has a non-English Single Language Edition, you should install an edition of Windows that is supported by the FRC Driver Station application and supports English.

Prior to leaving for the competition

Items in this section require internet connectivity and should be done prior to arriving at the event.

  1. Install all Windows updates, then test the driver station with your robot. Keep running Windows Update until no updates show as pending.

  2. Pause updates. Navigate to Start -> Settings -> Windows Update, then set Pause updates to cover the time of the competition.

  3. Change “Active Hours” for Windows Updates to prevent updates from installing during competition hours. This helps if you forget to pause updates. Navigate to Start -> Settings -> Windows Update -> Advanced options, then select Active Hours. Be sure to take timezone differences at your competition location into account.

  4. 带上可靠的USB转以太网线以用于连接到roboRIO。

赛场时

  1. Turn off Windows firewall using these instructions.

  2. Turn off the Wi-Fi adapter, either using the dedicated hardware Wi-Fi switch or by using the Wi-Fi control in Quick Settings.

  3. Charge the driver station laptop when it’s in the pit.

  4. Ensure everyone on the drive team knows the password. You’d be surprised at how often drivers arrive at the field without knowing the password.

  5. LabVIEW users: Ensure your LabVIEW code is deployed permanently and set to “run as startup”, using the instructions in the LabVIEW Tutorial. If you must deploy code every time you turn the robot on, you’re doing it wrong.

  6. 将网站浏览限制为FRC相关的网站。这样可以最大程度地减少比赛中感染恶意软件的机会。

  7. Don’t plan on using internet access at the event to make software updates. There likely won’t be any in the venue, and hotel Wi-Fi varies widely in quality. If you do need updates, contact a Control System Advisor in the pit.

每场比赛之前

  1. 请确保笔记本电脑在你上一场之前保持打开和登录

  2. Close programs that aren’t needed during the match.

  3. Bring your laptop charger to the field. Power is provided in each player station. Why? Windows is less aggressive about power management when the laptop is plugged in, which means the FRC Driver Station application behaves more predictably.

  4. 用魔术贴胶带将笔记本电脑固定在操作站桌子上。您永远不会知道您的联盟合作伙伴何时会遇到自主编程问题并毁于一旦。

  5. Ensure joysticks and controllers are functioning.

    1. In the USB tab in the FRC Driver Station application, drag and drop to assign joysticks as needed.

    2. Verify that buttons are working and joysticks return to zero position.

    3. Use the rescan button (F1) if joysticks / controllers do not appear green.

    4. 如果在比赛期间拔下操纵杆或控制器并重新插回电源或者变成灰色，那么使用重新扫描按钮（F1）。

  6. Ensure your Dashboard is connected to the robot after your driver station laptop connects to the robot.

  7. Ensure FRC Driver Station application is fully visible and in focus during the match to avoid Windows depriortizing it, and to ease troubleshooting.

Credits

The source document for this page was created by Steve Peterson, with contributions from Juan Chong, James Cole-Henry, Rick Kosbab, Greg McKaskle, Chris Picone, Chris Roadfeldt, Joe Ross, and Ryan Sjostrand. The original post and follow-up posts can be found here.