FIRST® Tech Challenge OnBot Java Tutorial| i

2017-2018 FIRST® Tech Challenge

OnBot Java Tutorial

Gracious Professionalism® - “Doing your best work while treating others with respect and kindness - It’s what makes FIRST, first.”
ii | FIRST® Tech Challenge OnBot Java Tutorial

Revision History
Revision Date Description
1.0 09/09/2017 Initial Release

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 What is FIRST® Tech Challenge? .............................................................................................................................. 3
1.2 FIRST Tech Challenge Core Values .......................................................................................................................... 3
2 Gracious Professionalism® ............................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Gracious Professionalism for Volunteers ................................................................................................................ 4
3 Youth Protection Program .............................................................................................................................................. 4
3.1 Youth Protection Expectations and Guidelines ...................................................................................................... 4
3.2 NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION ......................................................................................................................... 4
4 Training Manual Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 5
4.1 The Java Programming Language............................................................................................................................ 5
4.2 Point-to-Point Control System ................................................................................................................................ 5
4.3 REV Robotics Expansion Hub .................................................................................................................................. 5
5 Required Materials.......................................................................................................................................................... 6
6 Setting Up Your Smartphones ......................................................................................................................................... 9
6.1 Renaming Your Smartphones ................................................................................................................................. 9
6.2 Installing the FIRST Tech Challenge Apps.............................................................................................................. 13
6.3 Placing Phones into Airplane Mode with Wi-Fi On ............................................................................................... 17
6.4 Pairing the Driver Station to the Robot Controller ............................................................................................... 18
7 Connecting Devices to an Expansion Hub ..................................................................................................................... 22
7.1 Connecting 12V Power to the Expansion Hub ...................................................................................................... 22
7.2 Connecting a Motor to the Expansion Hub........................................................................................................... 25
7.3 Connecting a Servo to the Expansion Hub ............................................................................................................ 26
7.4 Connecting a Color-Distance Sensor to the Expansion Hub ................................................................................. 27
7.5 Connecting a Touch Sensor to the Expansion Hub ............................................................................................... 28
8 Configuring Your Hardware on the Robot Controller ................................................................................................... 29
9 Writing an Op Mode ..................................................................................................................................................... 42
9.1 What’s an Op Mode? ............................................................................................................................................ 42
9.2 The FTC OnBot Java Programming Tool ................................................................................................................ 42
9.3 Installing a Javascript-Enabled Browser ................................................................................................................ 43
9.4 Connecting Your Laptop to the Program & Manage Server ................................................................................. 45
9.5 Troubleshooting Your Wireless Connection ......................................................................................................... 48

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9.6 Creating Your First Op Mode ................................................................................................................................ 49

9.7 Examining the Structure of Your Op Mode ........................................................................................................... 52
9.8 Building Your Op Mode ......................................................................................................................................... 54
9.9 Troubleshooting Build Messages .......................................................................................................................... 55
9.10 Running Your Op Mode......................................................................................................................................... 56
9.11 Modifying Your Op Mode to Control a Motor ...................................................................................................... 58
9.12 Running Your Op Mode with a Gamepad Connected ........................................................................................... 59
10 Controlling a Servo Motor with an Op Mode ........................................................................................................... 60
10.1 What is a Servo Motor? ........................................................................................................................................ 60
10.2 Modifying Your Op Mode to Control a Servo ....................................................................................................... 61
11 Using Sensors ............................................................................................................................................................ 62
11.1 Color-Distance Sensor ........................................................................................................................................... 62
11.2 Touch Sensor ......................................................................................................................................................... 63
12 FIRST Tech Challenge Reference Information ........................................................................................................... 64
12.1 Javadoc Reference Pages ...................................................................................................................................... 64
12.2 Sample Op Modes ................................................................................................................................................. 64
12.3 Control System Wiki .............................................................................................................................................. 64
12.4 Technology Forum ................................................................................................................................................ 64
13 Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................................................................ 65
13.1 Manually Connecting to the Program & Manage Wi-Fi Network ......................................................................... 65
13.2 Troubleshooting Tips............................................................................................................................................. 68
13.2.1 Driver Station Appears Unresponsive ........................................................................................................... 68
13.2.2 Warning: problem communicating… ............................................................................................................ 69

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1 Introduction

1.1 What is FIRST® Tech Challenge?

FIRST Tech Challenge is a student-centered program that focuses on giving students a unique and stimulating
experience. Each year, teams engage in a new Game where they
design, build, test, and program autonomous and driver operated
robots that must perform a series of tasks.
FIRST Tech Challenge is MORE
They also cultivate life skills such as: THAN ROBOTSSM! While
• Planning, brainstorming, and creative problem-solving. competing, students develop
• Research and technical skills. personal and professional skills
• Collaboration and teamwork. they will be able to rely on
• Appreciating differences and respecting the ideas and throughout their life.
contributions of others.

To learn more about FIRST Tech Challenge and other FIRST®

Programs, visit www.firstinspires.org.

1.2 FIRST Tech Challenge Core Values

FIRST asks everyone who takes part in FIRST Tech Challenge to uphold the following values:

• We display Gracious Professionalism® with everyone we engage with and in everything we do.
• We act with integrity.
• We have fun.
• We are a welcoming community of students, mentors, and volunteers.
• What we learn is more important than what we win.
• We respect each other and celebrate our diversity.
• Students and adults work together to find solutions to challenges.
• We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
• We behave with courtesy and compassion for others always.
• We act as ambassadors for FIRST and FIRST Tech Challenge.
• We inspire others to adopt these values.

2 Gracious Professionalism®

FIRST uses this term to describe our programs’ intent and is shared with all young people engaging in
FIRST programs. At FIRST, team members help other team members, but they also help other teams.
Gracious Professionalism® is not clearly defined for a reason. It
has different meanings to everyone.
An example of Gracious
Some possible meanings of Gracious Professionalism include:
Professionalism is patiently
• Gracious attitudes and behaviors are win-win. listening to a team’s question and
• Gracious folks respect others and let that respect show in providing support despite having
their actions. several pressing things to do on
• Gracious Professionals make valued contributions in a the day of the event.
way that is pleasing to others and to themselves.

In FIRST, Gracious Professionalism teaches teams and student

participants:

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• Learn to be strong competitors, but also treat one another with respect and kindness in the process.
• Avoid leaving anyone feeling as if they are excluded or unappreciated.
• Knowledge, pride and empathy should be comfortably and genuinely blended.

In the end, Gracious Professionalism® is part of everyday life. When professionals use their knowledge
in a graciously and individuals act with integrity and sensitivity, everyone wins, and society benefits.
Watch Dr. Woodie Flowers explain Gracious Professionalism in this short video.

2.1 Gracious Professionalism for Volunteers

It is a good idea to spend time going over this concept with volunteers. Provide volunteers with real-life
examples of Gracious Professionalism in practice before, during, and after the event and recognize great
Gracious Professionalism when you see it in action!

3 Youth Protection Program

The FIRST YPP sets minimum standards recommended for all FIRST activities. Adults working in FIRST
programs must be knowledgeable of the standards set by the FIRST YPP, as well as those set by the school
or organization hosting their team.

3.1 Youth Protection Expectations and Guidelines

Coaches and mentors should read and follow the FIRST Youth Protection Program guide. Anything labeled as
required is mandatory in the United States and Canada, and cannot be waived without approval from the
FIRST Youth Protection Department. FIRST recommends that the standards set forth in the FIRST Youth
Protection Program guide be applied outside of the United States and Canada to the extent possible. At a
minimum, local regulations regarding youth protection must be complied with.
Most up to date forms are available here: http://firstinspires.org/resource-library/youth-protection-policy
The US Screening process, the Canadian Screen process, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), and additional
information are on the FIRST Youth Protection Program Website: http://firstinspires.org/resource-library/youth-
protection-policy

3.2 NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST®) does not discriminate based on race,
color, national origin, sex, disability, age, status as a veteran who served in the military, religion, gender,
gender identity, or gender expression in its programs and activities.

Keep updated at: http://www.firstinspires.org/about/legal-notices

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4 Training Manual Introduction

This document shows how to set up, configure and program the control system used for the FIRST Tech Challenge
competition using the FTC OnBot Java Programming Tool. The basic examples in this document use the REV Robotics
Expansion Hub as the primary input/output module. For detailed information about the REV Robotics Expansion Hub,
refer to the REV Robotics Expansion Hub Guide which is available from the REV Robotics website
(http://www.revrobotics.com/).

4.1 The Java Programming Language

This tutorial assumes that you have a sound understanding of the Java programming language. If you do not know Java,
then you should consider using the FTC Blocks Programming Tool, which is a visual development tool. Information about
the FTC Blocks Programming Tool can be found at the following address:

https://github.com/ftctechnh/ftc_app/wiki/Writing-an-Op-Mode-with-FTC-Blocks

Or, you can learn the Java programming language by completing the Oracle Java Tutorial, which is available at the
following address:

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/

4.2 Point-to-Point Control System

Teams competing in the FIRST Tech Challenge use a point-to-point system to control their robots.

Figure 1 – The control system has a Driver Station connected wirelessly to a Robot Controller.

The Robot Controller acts as the “brains” of the robot and is mounted on the frame of the robot. The Driver Station lets
humans interact with the Robot Controller through a wireless connection.

4.3 REV Robotics Expansion Hub

The REV Robotics Expansion Hub is the electronic input/output (or “I/O”) module that lets the Robot Controller talk to
the robot’s motors, servos, and sensors. The Robot Controller communicates with the Expansion Hub through a USB
connection.

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Figure 2 - The Expansion Hub lets the Robot Controller talk to the sensors, motors and servos.

5 Required Materials

To follow along with the examples in this document, you will need the following items:

Two (2) FIRST-approved Android

smartphones1

A Google account (available for free from

Google) to access the Google Play store

Wireless Internet access

1 Consult the official FIRST Tech Challenge Game Manual, Part 1 for a list of approved devices.

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Laptop with Microsoft Windows 7, 8 or 10

and Wi-Fi capability.

Note that your laptop should also have the

most current service packs and system
updates from Microsoft.

Javascript-enabled web browser (Google

Chrome is the recommended browser).

REV Robotics Expansion Hub (REV-31-1153)

REV Robotics Switch, Cable, and Bracket

(REV-31-1387)

REV Robotics Tamiya to XT30 Adapter (REV-

31-1382)

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FIRST-approved 12V Battery (such as Tetrix

W39057)

FIRST-approved 12V DC Motor (such as

Tetrix W39530, with power cable W41352)2

REV Robotics Anderson to JST VH Cable

(REV-31-1381)

180-Degree Standard Scale Servo (such as

Hitec HS-485HB)

REV Robotics Color Sensor with 4-Pin JST PH

Cable (REV-31-1154)

REV Robotics Touch sensor with 4-Pin JST PH

Cable (REV-31-1425)

2Note that for the examples listed in this document, it is recommended that the user builds a simple structure using a compatible build kit (such as
TETRIX Max) to properly secure the DC motor and prevent it from rolling about uncontrollably while running the sample op modes.

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USB Type A male to type mini-B male cable

Two (2) micro USB OTG adapters

Logitech F310 USB Gamepad

6 Setting Up Your Smartphones

6.1 Renaming Your Smartphones

You will need to have two FIRST-approved Android smartphones for the control system. One phone will be used as the
Robot Controller, the other will be used as the Driver Station.3

By establishing unique names for your phones, you can ensure that your phones will be communicating with each other
rather than other teams’ phones at meets and tournaments. The official rules of the FIRST Tech Challenge require that
you change the Wi-Fi name of your smartphones to include your team number and “-RC” if the phone is a Robot
Controller or “-DS” if it is a Driver Station. A team can insert an additional dash and a letter (“A”, “B”, “C”, etc.) if the
team has more than one set of Android phones.

If, for example, a team has a team number of 9999 and the team has multiple sets of phones, the team might decide to
name one phone “9999-C-RC” for the Robot Controller and the other phone “9999-C-DS” for the Driver Station. The “-
C” indicates that these devices belong to the third set of phones for this team.

3
Note that the screen images for this document were made using a pair of Motorola Android smartphones. The actual
screen images on your smartphones might differ slightly from the images depicted in this document.

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Renaming Your Smartphones

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 5 Minutes per Phone)
Step 1:
Click on Settings icon to display the Android
Settings screen.

Step 2:
Click on Wi-Fi to launch the Wi-Fi screen.

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Step 3:
Touch the three vertical dots in upper right-hand
corner to display a pop-up menu.

Step 4:
Select Advanced from the pop-up menu to
display the Advanced Wi-Fi screen.

Step 5:
Select Wi-Fi Direct to display the Wi-Fi Direct
menu.

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Step 6:
Touch the three vertical dots to display the pop-
up menu.

Step 7:
Select Configure Device from the pop-up menu.

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Step 8:
In the Configure Device screen, use the touch
keypad to type in the new name of the device. If
it is going to be a Robot Controller device, specify
your team number and “-RC”. If it is going to be a
Driver Station, specify your team number and “-
DS”.

You can also set the Wi-Fi Direct Inactivity

timeout to “Never disconnect” and then hit the
SAVE button to save your changes.

Note that in the screenshot shown to the right,

the team number is “9999”. The “-C” indicates
that this is from the third pair of smartphones for
this team. The “-RC” indicates that this phone
will be a Robot Controller.
Step 9:
After you have renamed your phone, power cycle
(i.e., restart) your smartphone.

6.2 Installing the FIRST Tech Challenge Apps

The FTC apps are available to download for free from the Google Play store. You will need to have your Android phones
connected to a Wi-Fi network that has Internet access before you can access the Google Play store. You will also need a
Google account to be able to download the apps from the Google Play store.

Installing the FIRST Tech Challenge Apps

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 7.5 Minutes per Phone)
Step 1:
From the Android Wi-Fi screen look for the name
of your wireless network (“CE_NET” in this
example) and touch the wireless network name
to login to the network.

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Step 2:
Specify the password using the touch keypad and
hit CONNECT to connect to this wireless network.

Step 3:
Find the Google Play Store icon on your phone
and click it to launch the Google Play Store app.

Step 4:
If you haven’t signed into your Google account
yet, follow the onscreen instructions to log into
your Google account.

If you don’t have a Google account, follow the

onscreen instructions to create a new account.

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Step 5:
In the search window of the Google Play app,
type in the words “FTC Robot Controller” to find
the Robot Controller or “FTC Driver Station” to
find the appropriate FTC app for your phone.

Step 6:
Tap on the app in the Google Play listing to bring
up the installation screen. Follow the onscreen
instructions to install the appropriate app for
your phone.

Important note: When you install the FTC apps,

only install one FTC app (FTC Robot Controller or
FTC Driver Station) per phone. You should avoid
installing both apps onto the same phone. Doing
so can cause Wi-Fi connection problems. You
should only install the FTC Robot Controller app
onto the phone that will be the Robot Controller
and the FTC Driver Station app onto the phone
that will be the Driver Station.

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Step 7:
After you have successfully installed the app, you
should forget the external wireless network on
your phone.

Go to the Android Wi-Fi screen, find the name of

the currently connected network, and tap on the
network name to bring up a pop-up box with info
about the network.

Step 8:
Click on FORGET button to forget the wireless
network.

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6.3 Placing Phones into Airplane Mode with Wi-Fi On

For the FIRST Tech Challenge competitions, it is important that you place your Robot Controller and Driver Station
phones into Airplane mode but keep their Wi-Fi radios turned on. This is important because you do not want any of the
cellular telephone functions to be enabled during a match. The cellular telephone functions could disrupt the function
of the robot during a match.

Placing Phones into Airplane Mode with Wi-Fi On

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 2.5 Minutes per Phone)
Step 1:
On the main Android screen of each smartphone,
use your finger to slide from the top of the screen
down towards the bottom of the screen to
display the quick configuration screen.

Note that for some smartphones you might have

to swipe down more than once to display the
quick configuration screen, particularly if there
are messages or notifications displayed at the top
of your screen.

Look for the Airplane mode icon (which is shaped

like an airplane) and if the icon is not activated,
touch the icon to put the phone into airplane
mode.

Step 2:
Placing the phone into airplane mode will turn off
the Wi-Fi radio. If the Wi-Fi icon has a diagonal
line through it (see Step 1 above), then the Wi-Fi
radio is disabled. You will need to touch the “Wi-
Fi” icon on the quick configuration screen to turn
the Wi-Fi radio back on.

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6.4 Pairing the Driver Station to the Robot Controller

Once you have successfully installed the FTC apps onto your Android phones, you will want to establish a secure wireless
connection between the two devices. This connection will allow your Driver Station phone to select op modes on your
Robot Controller phone and send gamepad input to these programs. Likewise, it will allow your op modes running on
your Robot Controller phone to send telemetry data to your Driver Station phone where it can be displayed for your
drivers. The process to connect the two phones is known as “pairing.”

Pairing the Driver Station to the Robot Controller

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 10 minutes)
Step 1:
On the main Robot Controller smartphone, look
for the FTC Robot Controller icon. Tap on the
icon to launch the Robot Controller app.

Step 2:
Verify that the Robot Controller app is running.
The Robot Status field should read “running” if it
is working properly.

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Step 3:
On your Driver Station phone, find the FTC Driver
Station app icon. Tap on the icon to launch the
Driver Station app.

Step 4:
Touch the three vertical dots on the upper right
hand corner of the main screen of the FTC Driver
Station app. This will launch a pop-up menu.

Step 5:
Select Settings from the pop-up menu.

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Step 6:
From the Settings screen, look for and select
“Connect with Robot Controller” to launch the
Connect with Robot Controller screen.

Step 7:
Find the name of your Robot Controller from the
list and select it.

After you have made your selection, use the

back-arrow key to return to the Settings screen.

Then press the back-arrow key one more time to

return to the main Driver Station screen.

Step 8:
When the Driver Station returns to its main
screen, the first time you attempt to connect to
the Robot Controller a prompt should appear on
the Robot Controller screen.

Click on the “ACCEPT” button to accept the

connection request from the Driver Station.

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Step 9:
Verify that the Driver Station screen has changed
and that it now indicates that it is connected to
the Robot Controller.

The name of the Robot Controller’s remote

network (“9999-C-RC” in this example) should be
displayed in the Network field on the Driver
Station.

Step 10:
Verify that the Robot Controller screen has
changed and that it now indicates that it is
connected to the Driver Station.

The Network status should read “active,

connected” on the Robot Controller’s main
screen.

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7 Connecting Devices to an Expansion Hub

This section demonstrates how to connect and configure devices to your REV Robotics Expansion Hub. For the examples
in this document, we will connect the Expansion Hub through a switch to a 12V battery. We will then connect a DC
motor, a servo and some sensors to the Expansion Hub.

7.1 Connecting 12V Power to the Expansion Hub

The Expansion Hub draws power from a 12V rechargeable battery. For safety reasons, the battery has a 20A fuse built
in. A mechanical switch is used to turn on/turn off the power.

Connecting 12V Power to the Expansion Hub

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 5 minutes)
Step 1:
If your 12V battery has a Tamiya style connector, connect the Tamiya to XT30 adapter cable to the
matching end of the switch cable.

Do not plug connect the 12V battery to the Tamiya adapter yet. We will connect the battery during a
later step.
Step 2:
Connect the other end of the switch cable to a matching XT30 port on the Expansion Hub.

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Step 3:
Verify that the switch is in the OFF position.

Step 4:
Connect the 12V battery to the Tamiya to XT30 cable.

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Step 5:
Turn on the switch and verify that the Expansion Hub is drawing power from the battery. Note that
the Expansion Hub’s LED should be illuminated (notice blue LED in image below).

Step 6:
Turn off the switch and verify that the Expansion Hub is off. Note that the Expansion Hub’s LED
should not be illuminated.

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7.2 Connecting a Motor to the Expansion Hub

The Expansion Hub can drive up to four (4) 12V DC motors per Expansion Hub. The Expansion Hub uses a type of
electrical connector known as a 2-pin JST VH connector. At the time that this document was written, the FIRST-
approved 12V DC motors were equipped with Anderson Powerpole connectors. An adapter cable is used to connect the
Anderson Powerpole connectors to the Expansion Hub motor port.

Figure 3 - Motor test rig made from Tetrix build components.

For the examples in this document, FIRST recommends that the user build a simple rig to secure the motor in place and
prevent it from moving about during the test runs. The image above shows a Tetrix motor installed in a rig built with a
Tetrix motor mount and some Tetrix C-channels. A gear was mounted on the motor shaft to make it easier for the user
to see the rotation of the shaft.

Connecting a 12V DC Motor to the Expansion Hub

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 2.5 minutes)
Step 1:
Connect the Anderson Powerpole end of the motor’s power cable to the Powerpole end of the
Anderson to JST VH adapter cable.

Step 2:
Connect the other end of the Anderson to JST VH adapter cable into the motor port labeled “0” on
the Expansion Hub.

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7.3 Connecting a Servo to the Expansion Hub

The REV Robotics Expansion Hub has 6 built-in servo ports. The servo ports accept the standard 3-wire header style
connectors commonly found on servos. Note that ground pin is on the left side of the servo port.

Connecting a Servo to the Expansion Hub

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 2.5 minutes)
Step 1:
Connect the servo cable to the servo port labeled “0” on the Expansion Hub. Note that the ground
pin is on the left side of the servo port.

Step 2:
Verify that the black ground wire of the servo cable matches the ground pin of the servo port (which
is aligned on the left side of the port).

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7.4 Connecting a Color-Distance Sensor to the Expansion Hub

The Expansion Hub has 4 independent I2C buses. Each bus has its own port on the Hub. We will connect a REV Robotics
Color-Distance sensor to the I2C bus #0 on the Expansion Hub.

Connecting a Color-Distance Sensor to the Expansion Hub

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 2.5 minutes)
Step 1:
Connect the one end of the 4-pin JST PH cable to the REV Robotics Color-Distance sensor.

Step 2:
Plug the other end of the 4-pin JST PH cable to the I2C port labeled “0” on the Expansion Hub.

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7.5 Connecting a Touch Sensor to the Expansion Hub

The Expansion Hub has 4 independent digital input/output (I/O) ports. Each port has two digital I/O pins for a total of 8
digital I/O pins on an Expansion Hub. You will connect a REV Robotics Touch sensor to one of the digital I/O ports.

Note that in the case of the REV Robotics Touch Sensor, the device has a connector port for a 4-pin sensor cable.
However, the device only needs to connect to one of the two available digital I/O pins. For the REV Robotics Touch
Sensor, the second digital I/O in the port is the one that gets connected when a standard REV Robotics 4-pin JST PH
cable is used. For the “0-1” port, it is the pin labeled “1” that gets connected through the 4-pin cable. Similarly, for the
“2-3” port, it is the pin labeled “3” that gets connected through the 4-pin cable.

Connecting a Touch Sensor to the Expansion Hub

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 2.5 minutes)
Step 1:
Connect the one end of the 4-pin JST PH cable to the REV Robotics Touch sensor.

Step 2:
Plug the other end of the 4-pin JST PH cable to digital I/O port labeled “0-1” on the Expansion Hub.

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8 Configuring Your Hardware on the Robot Controller

Before you can communicate with the motor, servo and sensors that are connected to the Expansion Hub, you first must
create a configuration file on your Robot Controller smartphone, so that the Robot Controller will know what hardware
is available on the Expansion Hub.

Creating a Configuration File on the Robot Controller

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 20 minutes)
Connecting the Phone to the Expansion Hub
Step 1:
Power on the Expansion Hub by turning on
the power switch.

Step 2:
Plug the Type B Mini end of the USB cable
into the USB mini port on the Expansion Hub.

Step 3:
Plug the Type A end of the USB cable into the
OTG adapter.

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Step 4:
Verify that your Robot Controller smartphone
is powered on and unlocked. Plug in the USB
Micro OTG adapter into the OTG port of the
Robot Controller phone.

Note that when the OTG adapter is plugged

into the smartphone, the phone will detect
the presence of the Expansion Hub and
launch the Robot Controller app.

Step 5:
The first time you connect the Robot
Controller smartphone to the Expansion Hub,
the Android operating system should prompt
you to ask if it is OK to associate the newly
detected USB device (which is the Expansion
Hub) with the FTC Robot Controller app.

Important Information!
You might be prompted multiple times to
associate the USB hardware with the FTC
Robot Controller. Whenever you are
prompted by your phone with this message,
you should always select the “Use by default
for this USB device” option and hit the “OK”
button to associate the USB device with the
FTC Robot Controller app.

If you fail to make this association, then the

Robot Controller app might not reliably
connect to this Expansion Hub the next time
you turn your system on.

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Step 6:
Touch the three vertical dots in the upper
right hand corner of the Robot Controller.
This will launch a pop-up menu.

Step 7:
Select Configure Robot from the pop up
menu to display the Configuration screen.

Step 8:
If your Robot Controller does not have any
existing configuration files, the screen will
display a message indicating that you need to
create a file before proceeding.

Hit the “New” button to create a new

configuration file for your Robot Controller

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Step 9:
When the new configuration screen appears,
the Robot Controller app will do a scan of the
USB bus to see what devices are connected to
the phone.

It will display the devices that it found in a list

underneath the words “USB Devices in
configuration.” You should see an entry that
says something like “Expansion Hub Portal 1”
in the list.

Your Expansion Hub is listed as a Portal

because it is directly connected to the Robot
Controller phone through the USB cable.

If you do not see your Expansion Hub Portal

listed, check the wired connections and then
press the Scan button one or two times to see
if the phone detects the device on a re-scan of
the USB bus.
Step 12:
Touch the Portal listing (“Expansion Hub Portal 1” in this example) to display what Expansion Hubs are
connected through this Portal.

Since we only have a single Expansion Hub connected, we should only see a single Expansion Hub
configured (“Expansion Hub 2” in this example).

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Step 13:
Touch the Expansion Hub listing (“Expansion Hub 2” in this example) to display the Input/Output
ports for that device.

The screen should switch and list all the motor, servo and sensor ports that are available on the
selected Expansion Hub.
Configuring the DC Motor
Step 14:
Touch the word Motors on the screen to display the Motor Configuration screen.

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Step 15:
Since we installed our motor onto port #0 of
the Expansion Hub, use the dropdown control
for port 0 to select the motor type (Tetrix
Motor for this example).

Step 16:
Use the touch screen keypad to specify a
name for your motor (“motorTest” in this
example).

Step 17:
Press the Done button to complete the motor
configuration. The app should return to the
previous screen.

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Configuring the Servo

Step 18:
Touch on the word Servos on the screen to display the Servo Configuration screen.

Step 19:
Use the dropdown control to select “Servo” as
the servo type for port #0.

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Step 20:
Use the touch pad to specify the name of the
servo (“servoTest” for this example) for port
#0.

Step 21:
Press the Done button to complete the servo
configuration. The app should return to the
previous screen.

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Configuring the Color Sensor

Step 22:
Touch the words I2C Bus 0 on the screen to launch the I2C configuration screen for this I2C bus.

The Expansion Hub has four independent I2C buses, labeled “0” through “3”. In this example, since
you connected the Color Sensor to the port labeled “0”, it resides on I2C Bus 0.
Step 23:
Look at the I2C Bus 0 screen. There should
already be a sensor configured for this bus.

The Expansion Hub has its own built-in inertial

measurement unit (IMU) sensor. This sensor
can be used to determine the orientation of a
robot, as well as measure the accelerations on
a robot.

The built-in IMU is internally connected to I2C

Bus 0 on each Expansion Hub. Whenever you
configure an Expansion Hub using the Robot
Controller, the app automatically configures
the IMU for I2C Bus 0.

You will need to add another I2C device for

this bus to be able to configure the color
sensor.

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Step 24:
Press the Add button to add another I2C
device to this bus.

Step 25:
Select “REV Color/Range Sensor” from the
dropdown selector for this new device. Use
the touchscreen keyboard to name this device
“sensorColorRange”.

Step 26:
Press the Done button to complete the I2C
sensor configuration. The app should return
to the previous screen.

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Configuring the Touch Sensor

Step 27:
Touch the words Digital Devices on the screen to launch the Digital I/O configuration screen.

Step 28:
Use the touch screen to add a “Digital Device”
for port #1 and name the device
“digitalTouch”.

Notice that we are configuring the Touch

Sensor on port #1 instead of port #0. This is
because when the REV Robotics Touch Sensor
is connected to a digital port using a standard
4-wire JST sensor cable, it is the second digital
pin that is connected. The first pin remains
disconnected.

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Step 29:
Press the Done button to return to the
previous screen.

Saving the Configuration Information

Step 30:
Press the Done button to go up one level in
the configuration screens.

Step 31:
Press the Done button again to return to the
highest level in the configuration screens.

Step 32:
Press the Save button.

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Step 33:
When prompted, specify a configuration file
name using the touchscreen’s keypad (use
“TestConfig” for this example).

Step 34:
Press the OK button to save your
configuration information using that file
name.

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Step 35:
After the configuration file has been saved,
touch the Android back-arrow button to
return to the main screen of the app.

Step 36:
Verify that the configuration file is the active
configuration file on the main Robot
Controller screen.

9 Writing an Op Mode

9.1 What’s an Op Mode?

During a typical FIRST Tech Challenge match, a team’s robot must perform a variety of tasks to score points. For
example, a team might want their robot to follow a white line on the competition floor and then score a game element
into a goal autonomously during a match. Teams write programs called “op modes” (which stands for “operational
modes”) to specify the behavior for their robot. These op modes run on the Robot Controller phone after being selected
on the Driver Station phone.

Teams who are participating in the FIRST Tech Challenge have a variety of programming tools that they can use to create
their own op modes. This document explains how to use the FTC OnBot Java Programming Tool to write an op mode for
an FTC robot.

9.2 The FTC OnBot Java Programming Tool

The FTC OnBot Java Programming Tool is a user-friendly programming tool that is served up by the Robot Controller
phone. A user can create custom op modes for their robot using this tool and then save these op modes directly onto
the Robot Controller. Users write their op modes using Java. The op modes are compiled very quickly on the Robot
Controller and then loaded dynamically by the Robot Controller during run time.

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Figure 4 – Users create, edit and build their op modes using web browser.

The examples in this document use a Windows laptop computer to connect to the Robot Controller. This Windows
laptop computer has a Javascript-enabled web browser installed that is used to access the FTC OnBot Java Programming
Tool.

Note that if you prefer, you can use an alternate device, such as an Apple Mac laptop, Chromebook, or an iPad instead
of a Windows computer to access the OnBot Java Programming Tool. The instructions included in this document,
however, assume that you are using a Windows laptop.

9.3 Installing a Javascript-Enabled Browser

To be able to program using the OnBot Java Programming Tool, your laptop will need a Javascript-enabled browser.
FIRST recommends the use of Google Chrome as the Javascript-enabled browser for the OnBot Java Programming Tool.
The OnBot Java Programming Tool has been thoroughly tested using Google Chrome.

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Installing Javascript-Enabled Browser

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 15 minutes)
Step 1: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html
Visit the Google Chrome website (using your
computer’s existing browser) and follow
onscreen instructions to download and install
Chrome.

Step 2:
Note that your computer might prompt you with
a security warning during the installation process.
If you are prompted with this warning, click on
the “Run” button to continue with the
installation.

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9.4 Connecting Your Laptop to the Program & Manage Server

You will need to access the Program & Manage server, which runs on the Robot Controller app. You will want to
connect your laptop’s wireless adapter to the Program & Manage server’s Wi-Fi network. Before you begin this
exercise, please make sure that your Windows laptop has the most current service packs and system updates from
Microsoft installed.4

Connecting Your Laptop to the Programming Mode Server

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 20 minutes)
Step 1:
On the Robot Controller, touch the three dots
in the upper right hand corner of the screen to
launch the pop-up menu.

Select “Program & Manage” from the pop-up

menu to display the Program & Manage
access information.

Step 2:
Verify that the Robot Controller is now on the
Program & Manage screen.

The Program & Manage screen displays

important information that you will use to
connect your laptop to the Program &
Manage server.

4This example assumes the user has a Windows 10 laptop. If you are not using a Windows laptop, the procedure to connect to the Program &
Manager server will differ. Refer to your device’s documentation for details on how to connect to a Wi-Fi network.

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Step 3:
Verify the network name and pass phrase for
the Program & Manage server’s wireless
network.

Towards the top of the screen, the name of

the Progam & Manage wireless network is
displayed. In this example, the name of the
Wi-Fi network is “DIRECT-XK-9999-C-RC” and
the secure passphrase is “ZU7if0hB”.

Step 4:
On your Windows 10 computer, look in the lower right hand corner of your desktop for a Wi-Fi
symbol. Click on the Wi-Fi symbol to display a list of available Wi-Fi Networks in your vicinity.

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Step 5:
Look for the wireless network that matches
the name displayed on the Robot Controller.

In this example, the name of the wireless

network is “DIRECT-XK-9999-C-RC” and the
network is visible in the list displayed on the
Windows 10 computer.

Step 6:
Once you have found the target network in
the list, click on it to select it.

Press the Connect button to connect to the

network.

Step 7:
When prompted, provide the network
passphrase (in this example “ZU7if0hB”) and
press “Next” to continue.

Note that the passphrase is case sensitive.

Make sure that your spelling and capitalization
matches the original spelling and
capitalization shown on the Program &
Manage screen.

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Step 8:
Once you have successfully established a
wireless connection between your Windows
10 laptop and your Robot Controller Android
device, the status should be displayed in the
wireless settings for your laptop.

If the display is not updated as shown after a

few seconds, try clicking on Network
Connections at the bottom of the blue box
showing the Wi-Fi connections. This will bring
up a Setting dialog box that includes a link to
“Show available networks.”, which can be
used to force the list of Wi-Fi connections to
be updated.

Note that when you are connected to the

blocks programming mode server on your
Robot Controller phone, your laptop will not
have access to the Internet. It only has direct
access to the Robot Controller.

9.5 Troubleshooting Your Wireless Connection

If you cannot see your Program & Manage wireless network in the list of available networks, or, if you are having
problems connecting your laptop to Program & Manage wireless network, make sure you answer the following
questions:

1. Is the Robot Controller running and connected to the Driver Station?

2. Is your Windows laptop updated with the most current system updates and service packs? Older versions of
Windows 8 and 10, for example, had issues that could prevent the laptop from displaying the Program &
Manage wireless network in the list of available networks.

If you are still having issues with connecting the laptop to the Robot Controller, visit section 13.1 of this document for
instructions on how to manually connect to the Program & Manage wireless network with a Windows 10 laptop.

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9.6 Creating Your First Op Mode

If you connected your laptop successfully to the Program & Manage wireless network of the Robot Controller, then you
are ready to create your first op mode. In this section, you will use the OnBot Java Programming Tool to create the
program logic for your first op mode.

Creating Your First Op Mode

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 10 minutes)
Step 1:
Launch the web browser on your laptop
(FIRST recommends using Google
Chrome).

Find the web address that is displayed on

the Program & Manage screen of the
Robot Controller. In our example, the
web address is “192.168.49.1:8080”.

Type this web address into the address

field of your browser to navigate to the
Program & Manage web server.
Step 2:
Verify that your web browser is connected to the Program & Manage server. If it connected to the
Program & Manage server successfully, then you should see the main Robot Controller Connection
screen.

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Step 3:
Click on the word “OnBotJava”
towards the top of the screen.
This will switch the browser to
the OnBot Java Programming
mode.

Step 4:
Take a look at the OnBot Java user interface. On the left hand side, there is the
project browser pane. In the upper right hand corner, there is the source code editing
pane. In the lower right hand corner, there is the message pane.

Step 5:
In the project browser pane, press the “+” symbol to create a new file. Pushing this
button will launch the New File dialog box. This dialog box has several parameters
that you can configure to customize your new file.

For this example, specify “MyFIRSTJavaOpMode” as the File Name in the New File
dialog box.

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Using the Sample dropdown list control, select “BlankLinearOpMode” from the list of
available sample op modes (see image above). By selecting “BlankLinearOpMode”
the OnBot Java editor will automatically generate a basic LinearOpMode framework
for you.

Check the option labeled “TeleOp” to ensure that this new file will be configured as a
tele-operated (i.e., driver controlled) op mode.

Also, make sure you check the “Setup Code for Configured Hardware” option. If this
option is enabled, the OnBot Java editor will look at the hardware configuration file
for your Robot Controller and automatically generate the code that you will need to
access the configured devices in your op mode.

Press the “OK” button to create your new op mode.

Step 6
You should see your newly created op mode in the editing pane of the OnBot Java
user interface.

Congratulations, you created your first op mode! The op mode currently does not do much, but you will eventually
modify it to make it more useful.

Note that when you create an OnBot op mode, you create a .java file that is stored on the Robot Controller. You can
access your saved op modes using the project browser on the left side of the screen. You can also organize your saved
op modes by right mouse clicking on the project browser to display a list of options to create, edit or delete files and
folders.

Also, note that the OnBot Java editor automatically saves your op mode as you are editing it, provided that you are
connected to the Program & Manage server.

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9.7 Examining the Structure of Your Op Mode

It can be helpful to think of an op mode as a list of tasks for the Robot Controller to perform. For a linear op mode, the
Robot Controller will process this list of tasks sequentially. Users can also use control loops (such as a while loop) to
have the Robot Controller repeat (or iterate) certain tasks within a linear op mode.

Figure 5 - It can be helpful to think of an op mode as a task list for the Robot Controller.5

If you think about an op mode as a list of instructions for the robot, this set of instructions that you created will be
executed by the robot whenever a team member selects the op mode called “MyFIRSTJavaOpMode” from the list of
available op modes for this Robot Controller.

Let’s look at the structure of your newly created op mode. Here’s a copy of the op mode text (minus some comments,
the package definition, and some import package statements):
@TeleOp

public class MyFIRSTJavaOpMode extends LinearOpMode {

private Gyroscope imu;
private DcMotor motorTest;
private DigitalChannel digitalTouch;
private DistanceSensor sensorColorRange;
private Servo servoTest;

@Override
public void runOpMode() {
imu = hardwareMap.get(Gyroscope.class, "imu");
motorTest = hardwareMap.get(DcMotor.class, "motorTest");
digitalTouch = hardwareMap.get(DigitalChannel.class, "digitalTouch");
sensorColorRange = hardwareMap.get(DistanceSensor.class, "sensorColorRange");
servoTest = hardwareMap.get(Servo.class, "servoTest");

telemetry.addData("Status", "Initialized");
telemetry.update();
// Wait for the game to start (driver presses PLAY)
waitForStart();

// run until the end of the match (driver presses STOP)

while (opModeIsActive()) {
telemetry.addData("Status", "Running");
telemetry.update();

}
}
}

At the start of the op mode there is an annotation that occurs before the class definition. This annotation states that
this is a tele-operated (i.e., driver controlled) op mode:
@TeleOp

5 Clip art image was downloaded from ClipArtBest.com on 10/13/16.

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If you wanted to change this op mode to an autonomous op mode, you would replace the “@TeleOp” with an
“@Autonomous” annotation instead.

You can see from the sample code that an op mode is defined as a Java class. In this example, the op mode name is
called “MyFIRSTJavaOpMode” and it inherits characteristics from the LinearOpMode class.
public class MyFIRSTJavaOpMode extends LinearOpMode {

You can also see that the OnBot Java editor created five private member variables for this op mode. These variables will
hold references to the five configured devices that the OnBot Java editor detected in the configuration file of your Robot
Controller.
private Gyroscope imu;
private DcMotor motorTest;
private DigitalChannel digitalTouch;
private DistanceSensor sensorColorRange;
private Servo servoTest;

Next, there is an overridden method called runOpMode. Every op mode of type LinearOpMode must implement this
method. This method gets called when a user selects and runs the op mode.
@Override
public void runOpMode() {

At the start of the runOpMode method, the op mode uses an object named hardwareMap to get references to the
hardware devices that are listed in the Robot Controller’s configuration file:
imu = hardwareMap.get(Gyroscope.class, "imu");
motorTest = hardwareMap.get(DcMotor.class, "motorTest");
digitalTouch = hardwareMap.get(DigitalChannel.class, "digitalTouch");
sensorColorRange = hardwareMap.get(DistanceSensor.class, "sensorColorRange");
servoTest = hardwareMap.get(Servo.class, "servoTest");

The hardwareMap object is available to use in the runOpMode method. It is an object of type HardwareMap class.

Note that when you attempt to retrieve a reference to a specific device in your op mode, the name that you specify as
the second argument of the HardwareMap.get method must match the name used to define the device in your
configuration file. For example, if you created a configuration file that had a DC motor named “motorTest”, then you
must use this same name (it is case sensitive) to retrieve this motor from the hardwareMap object. If the names do not
match, the op mode will throw an exception indicating that it cannot find the device.

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In the next few statements of the example, the op mode prompts the user to push the start button to continue. It uses
another object that is available in the runOpMode method. This object is called telemetry and the op mode uses the
addData method to add a message to be sent to the Driver Station. The op mode then calls the update method to send
the message to the Driver Station. Then it calls the waitForStart method, to wait until the user pushes the start button
on the driver station to begin the op mode run.
telemetry.addData("Status", "Initialized");
telemetry.update();
// Wait for the game to start (driver presses PLAY)
waitForStart();

Note that all linear op modes should have a waitForStart statement to ensure that the robot will not begin executing the
op mode until the driver pushes the start button.

After a start command has been received, the op mode enters a while loop and keeps iterating in this loop until the op
mode is no longer active (i.e., until the user pushes the stop button on the Driver Station):

// run until the end of the match (driver presses STOP)

while (opModeIsActive()) {
telemetry.addData("Status", "Running");
telemetry.update();

As the op mode iterates in the while loop, it will continue to send telemetry messages with the index of “Status” and the
message of “Running” to be displayed on the Driver Station.

9.8 Building Your Op Mode

When you create or edit an op mode the OnBot Java editor will auto-save the .java file to the file system of the Robot
Controller. However, before you can execute your changes on the Robot Controller, you must first build the op mode
and convert it from a Java text file to a binary that can be loaded dynamically into the FTC Robot Controller app.

If you are satisfied with your op mode and are ready to build, press the Build button (which is the button with the
wrench symbol, see image below) to start the build process. Note that the build process will build all of the .java files
on your Robot Controller.

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You should see messages appear in the message pane, which is located in the lower right hand side of the window. If
your build was successful, you should see a “Build succeeded!” message in the message pane.

Once you have built the binary files with your updated op modes, they are ready to run on the Robot Controller. Before
we run our example op mode, let’s see what happens if a problem occurs during the build process.

9.9 Troubleshooting Build Messages

In the previous section, the build process went smoothly. Let’s modify your op mode slightly to cause an error in the
build process.

In the editing pane of the OnBot Java window, look for the line that reads “private Servo servoTest;”. This should appear
somewhere near the beginning of your op mode class definition. Change the word “Servo” to the word “Zervo”:
private Zervo servoTest;

Also, let’s modify the telemetry statement that informs the user that the op mode has been initialized, and let’s remove
one of the two arguments so that the statement looks like this:
telemetry.addData("Status",);

Note that when you eliminate the second argument, a little “x” should appear next to the line with the modified
addData statement. This “x” indicates that there is a syntax error in the statement.

After you have modified your op mode, you can press the build button and see what error messages appear.

When you first attempt to build the op mode, you should get an “illegal start of expression error”. This is because the
addData method is missing its second argument. The OnBot Java system also directs you to the file that has the error,
and the location within the file where the error occurs.

In this example, the problem file is called “org/firstinspires/ftc/teamcode/MyFIRSTJavaOpMode.java” and the error
occurs at line 62, column 37. It is important to note that the build process builds all of the .java files on the Robot

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Controller. If there is an error in a different file (one that you are not currently editing) you will need to look at the file
name to determine which file is causing the problem.

Let’s restore this statement back to its original, correct form:

telemetry.addData("Status", "Initialized");

After you have corrected the addData statement, push the build button again to see what happens. The OnBot Java
system should complain that it cannot find the symbol “Zervo” in a source file called
“org/firstinspires/ftc/teamcode/MyFIRSTJavaOpMode.java” at line 51, column 13.

You should restore the statement back to its original form and then push the build button and verify that the op mode
gets built properly.
private Servo servoTest;

9.10 Running Your Op Mode

If you successfully rebuilt your op mode, you are ready to run the op mode. Verify that the Driver Station is still
connected to the Robot Controller. Since you designated that your example op mode is a tele-operated op mode, it will
be listed as a “TeleOp” op mode.

On the Driver Station, use the “TeleOp” dropdown list control to display the list of available op modes. Select your op
mode (“MyFIRSTJavaOpMode”) from the list.

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Press the INIT button to initialize the op mode.

The op mode will execute the statements in the runOpMode method up to the waitForStart statement. It will then wait
until you press the start button (which is represented by the triangular shaped symbol) to continue.

Once you press the start button, the op mode will continue to iterate and send the “Status: Initialized” message to the
Driver Station. To stop the op mode, press the square-shaped stop button.

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Congratulations! You ran your first java op mode!

9.11 Modifying Your Op Mode to Control a Motor

Let’s modify your op mode to control the DC motor that you connected and configured for your REV Expansion Hub.
Modify the code for the program loop so that it looks like the following:
// run until the end of the match (driver presses STOP)
double tgtPower = 0;
while (opModeIsActive()) {
tgtPower = -this.gamepad1.left_stick_y;
motorTest.setPower(tgtPower);
telemetry.addData("Target Power", tgtPower);
telemetry.addData("Motor Power", motorTest.getPower());
telemetry.addData("Status", "Running");
telemetry.update();

The additions are highlighted in yellow in the above code snippet. If you look at these code additions, you will see that
we defined a new variable called target power before we enter the while loop.
double tgtPower = 0;

At the start of the while loop we set the variable tgtPower equal to the negative value of the gamepad1’s left joystick:
tgtPower = -this.gamepad1.left_stick_y;

The object gamepad1 is available for you to access in the runOpMode method. It represents the state of gamepad #1
on your Driver Station. Note that for the F310 gamepads that are used during the competition, the Y value of a joystick
ranges from -1, when a joystick is in its topmost position, to +1, when a joystick is in its bottommost position. In the
example code above, you negate the left_stick_y value so that pushing the left joystick forward will result in a positive
power being applied to the motor.

The next set of statements sets the power of motorTest to the value represented by the variable tgtPower. The values
for target power and actual motor power are then added to the set of data that will be sent via the telemetry
mechanism to the Driver Station.
tgtPower = -this.gamepad1.left_stick_y;
motorTest.setPower(tgtPower);
telemetry.addData("Target Power", tgtPower);
telemetry.addData("Motor Power", motorTest.getPower());

After you have modified your op mode to include these new statements, press the build button and verify that the op
mode was built successfully.

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9.12 Running Your Op Mode with a Gamepad Connected

Your op mode takes input from a gamepad and uses this input to control a DC motor. To run your op mode, you will
need to connect a Logitech F310 gamepad to the Driver Station.

Before you connect your gamepad to the phone, verify that the switch on the bottom of the gamepad is set to the “X”
position.

Connect the gamepad to the Driver Station using the Micro USB OTG adapter cable.

Your example op mode is looking for input from the gamepad designated as the user or driver #1. Press the Start button
and the A button simultaneously on the Logictech F310 controller to designate your gamepad as user #1. Note that
pushing the Start button and the B button simultaneously would designate the gamepad as user #2.

If you successfully designated the gamepad to be user #1, you should see a little gamepad icon above the text “User 1”
in the upper right hand corner of the Driver Station Screen. Whenever there is activity on gamepad #1, the little icon
should be highlighted in green. If the icon is missing or if it does not highlight in green when you use your gamepad,
then there is a problem with the connection to the gamepad.

Select, initialize and run your “MyFIRSTJavaOpMode” op mode. It is important to note that whenever you rebuild an op
mode, you must stop the current op mode run and then restart it before the changes that you just built take effect.

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If you configured your gamepad properly, then the left joystick should control the motion of the motor. As you run your
op mode, be careful and make sure you do not get anything caught in the turning motor. Note that the User #1
gamepad icon should highlight green each time you move the joystick. Also note that the target power and actual
motor power values should be displayed in the telemetry area on the Driver Station.

10 Controlling a Servo Motor with an Op Mode

In this section, you will modify your op mode to control a servo motor with the buttons of the gamepad.

10.1 What is a Servo Motor?

A servo motor is a special type of motor. A servo motor is designed for precise motion. A typical servo motor has a
limited range of motion.

In the figure below, “standard scale” 180-degree servo is shown. This type of servo is popular with hobbyists and with
FIRST Tech Challenge teams. This servo motor can rotate its shaft through a range of 180 degrees. Using an electronic
module known as a servo controller you can write an op mode that will move a servo motor to a specific position. Once
the motor reaches this target position, it will hold the position, even if external forces are applied to the shaft of the
servo.

Figure 6 – An example of a servo motor that is commonly used on FIRST Tech Challenge robots.6

Servo motors are useful when you want to do precise movements (for example, sweep an area with a sensor to look for
a target or move the control surfaces on a remotely controlled airplane).

6 Image taken from the Pitsco website on 10/17/2016 (see https://c10645061.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/product/icongo/icg_39197_180degservo.jpg).

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10.2 Modifying Your Op Mode to Control a Servo

Let’s modify your op mode to add the logic required to control a servo motor. For this example, you will use the buttons
on the Logitech F310 gamepad to control the position of the servo motor.

With a typical servo, you can specify a target position for the servo. The servo will turn its motor shaft to move to the
target position, and then maintain that position, even if moderate forces are applied to try and disturb its position.

For the FIRST Tech Challenge control system, you can specify a target position that ranges from 0 to 1 for a servo. A
target position of 0 corresponds to zero degrees of rotation and a target position of 1 corresponds to 180 degrees of
rotation for a typical servo motor.

Figure 7 - A typical servo motor can rotate to and hold a position from 0 to 180 degrees.

In this example, you will use the colored buttons on the right side of the F310 controller to control the position of the
servo. Initially, the op mode will move the servo to the midway position (90 degrees of its 180-degree range). Pushing
the yellow “Y” button will move the servo to the zero-degree position. Pushing the blue “X” button or the red “B”
button will move the servo to the 90-degree position. Pushing the green “A” button will move the servo to the 180-
degree position.

Figure 8 – The colored buttons on the right side of the gamepad will be used to control servo position.

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Modify your op mode to add the following code:

// run until the end of the match (driver presses STOP)
double tgtPower = 0;
while (opModeIsActive()) {
tgtPower = -this.gamepad1.left_stick_y;
motorTest.setPower(tgtPower);
// check to see if we need to move the servo.
if(gamepad1.y) {
// move to 0 degrees.
servoTest.setPosition(0);
} else if (gamepad1.x || gamepad1.b) {
// move to 90 degrees.
servoTest.setPosition(0.5);
} else if (gamepad1.a) {
// move to 180 degrees.
servoTest.setPosition(1);
}
telemetry.addData("Servo Position", servoTest.getPosition());
telemetry.addData("Target Power", tgtPower);
telemetry.addData("Motor Power", motorTest.getPower());
telemetry.addData("Status", "Running");
telemetry.update();

}
This added code will check to see if any of the colored buttons on the F310 gamepad are pressed. If the Y button is
pressed, it will move the servo to the 0-degree position. If either the X button or B button is pressed, it will move the
servo to the 90-degree position. If the A button is pressed, it will move the servo to the 180-degree position. The op
mode will also send telemetry data on the servo position to the Driver Station.

After you have modified your op mode, you can build it and then run it. Verify that gamepad #1 is still configured and
then use the colored buttons to move the position of the servo.

11 Using Sensors
11.1 Color-Distance Sensor
A sensor is a device that lets the Robot Controller get information about its environment. In this example, you will use a
REV Robotics Color-Distance sensor to display range (distance from an object) info to the driver station.

The Color-Range sensor uses reflected light to determine the distance from the sensor to the target object. It can be
used to measure close distances (up 5” or more) with reasonable accuracy. Note that at the time this document was
most recently edited, the REV Color-Range sensor saturates around 2” (5cm). This means that for distances less than or
equal to 2”, the sensor returns a measured distance equal to 2” or so.

Modify your op mode to add a telemetry statement that will send the distance information (in centimeters) to the Driver
Station.
telemetry.addData("Servo Position", servoTest.getPosition());
telemetry.addData("Target Power", tgtPower);
telemetry.addData("Motor Power", motorTest.getPower());
telemetry.addData("Distance (cm)", sensorColorRange.getDistance(DistanceUnit.CM));
telemetry.addData("Status", "Running");
telemetry.update();

After you have modified your op mode, push the build button, then run the op mode to verify that it now displays
distance on your Driver Station. Note that if the distance reads “NaN” (short for “Not a Number”) it probably means
that your sensor is too far from the target (zero reflection). Also note that the sensor saturates at around 5 cm.

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11.2 Touch Sensor

The REV Robotics Touch Sensor can be connected to a digital port on the Expansion Hub. The Touch Sensor is HIGH
(returns TRUE) when it is not pressed. It is pulled LOW (returns FALSE) when it is pressed.

Figure 9 - REV Robotics Touch Sensor.

The Expansion Hub digital ports contain two digital pins per port. When you use a 4-wire JST cable to connect a REV
Robotics Touch sensor to an Expansion Hub digital port, the Touch Sensor is wired to the second of the two digital pins
within the port. The first digital pin of the 4-wire cable remains disconnected.

For example, if you connect a Touch Sensor to the “0,1” digital port of the Expansion Hub, the Touch Sensor will be
connected to the second pin (labeled “1”) of the port. The first pin (labeled “0”) will stay disconnected.

Modify the code in your op mode that occurs before the waitForStart command to set the digital channel for input
mode.
// set digital channel to input mode.
digitalTouch.setMode(DigitalChannel.Mode.INPUT);

telemetry.addData("Status", "Initialized");
telemetry.update();
// Wait for the game to start (driver presses PLAY)
waitForStart();

Also, modify the code in your while loop to add an if-else statement that checks the state of the digital input channel. If
the channel is LOW (false), the touch sensor button is pressed and being pulled LOW to ground. Otherwise, the touch
sensor button is not pressed.
// is button pressed?
if (digitalTouch.getState() == false) {
// button is pressed.
telemetry.addData("Button", "PRESSED");
} else {
// button is not pressed.
telemetry.addData("Button", "NOT PRESSED");
}

telemetry.addData("Status", "Running");
telemetry.update();

Rebuild your op mode, then reinitialize and restart your op mode. The op mode should now display the state of the
button (“PRESSED” or “NOT PRESSED”).

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12 FIRST Tech Challenge Reference Information

12.1 Javadoc Reference Pages

As you start to write more complicated op modes, you will need to use more features of the FIRST Tech Challenge
software development kit (SDK). You can reference online Javadoc material that provide descriptions of the available
FIRST Tech Challenge-related classes and methods, at the following web address:

http://ftctechnh.github.io/ftc_app/doc/javadoc/index.html

12.2 Sample Op Modes

The OnBot Java Programming Tool has several built-in example op modes that demonstrate how to do different tasks
with the FIRST Tech Challenge control system. As you create a new file, you can use the Sample dropdown list control to
display a list of available sample op modes or templates. The comments in these examples help explain what the
program statements do.

12.3 Control System Wiki

There is an up-to-date online wiki for the FTC Android control system. This document serves as a convenient online
reference for all topics related to the control system:

https://github.com/ftctechnh/ftc_app/wiki

12.4 Technology Forum

Registered teams can create user accounts on the FIRST Tech Challenge forum. Teams can use the forum to ask
questions and receive support from the FIRST Tech Challenge community.

The technology forum can be found at the following address:

https://ftcforum.usfirst.org/forum/ftc-technology?156-FTC-Technology

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13 Troubleshooting
13.1 Manually Connecting to the Program & Manage Wi-Fi Network
Section 9.4 describes how to search for the Program & Manage Wi-Fi network from a list of available networks and then
connect to it with a Windows laptop. For some Windows devices, the laptop might not display your Program & Manage
Wi-Fi network in its list of available networks. This problem can occur with some Windows 10 machines (and possibly
with some Windows 8 machines), especially if the computer does not have current system updates and service packs.

If you are having problems seeing your Program & Manage Wi-Fi network in your list of available networks, make sure
that your Driver Station is paired and connected to your Robot Controller (see section 6.4 of this document). Also, make
sure that you have the correct network name and passphrase. Also, make sure that your Windows 10 device has its
most current updates installed from Microsoft.

If you have verified that the Driver Station is paired and connected to the Robot Controller and that the you have the
correct network name and passphrase, and if you have verified that your Windows 10 updates are current, then you
might have to manually connect your Windows 10 computer to the Program & Manage Wi-Fi network.

You can manually connect to this network as if the network were a hidden network (i.e., a network that does not
broadcast its presence to other Wi-Fi devices).

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Manually Connecting to the Programming Mode Wi-Fi Network

(Time Needed to Complete Task: 15 minutes)
Step 1:
In the lower right hand corner of the
Windows 10 desktop, click on the network
icon in the system tray to display a list of
available Wi-Fi networks.

If you still do not see your Program &

Manage network listed, then scroll to the
bottom of the list and look for the item
“Hidden Network”.

Step 2:
Click on the “Hidden Network” listing to
start the connection process. The listing
should display a “Connect” button.

Make sure the option “Connect

automatically” is checked and then click
on the “Connect” button to continue with
the process.

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Step 3:
The computer should prompt you for the
name or SSID of your Program & Manage
mode Wi-Fi network. You should type in
the network name that is displayed in the
Program & Manage window of the
Android device.

Note, the SSID or network name is case

sensitive. Make sure the capitalization of
the name that you enter matches the
capitalization of the name displayed in the
Program & Manage screen.
Step 4:
The computer should then prompt you for
the passphrase to access this Wi-Fi
network. You should type in the network
passphrase that is displayed in the
Program & Manage window of the
Android device.

Note that the passphrase is case sensitive.

Make sure that your spelling and
capitalization matches the original spelling
and capitalization shown on the Program
& Manage screen.
Step 5:
Your computer will prompt you on
whether you want to make your PC
discoverable by other devices on this
network. Click “Yes” to continue.

Step 6:
The computer will attempt to connect to
your network. Note that it could take
several minutes before it connects.

Step 7:
If you could successfully connect to the
network, it will eventually appear in the
list of networks on your computer.

Note that when your computer is

connected to the blocks programming
server on your Robot Controller phone, it
will not have access to the Internet.

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13.2 Troubleshooting Tips

In this section, we provide some basic tips on troubleshooting problems that you might encounter when using the OnBot
Java Programming Tool to write op modes for your Robot Controller.

13.2.1 Driver Station Appears Unresponsive

If you are ready to run an op mode, but the Driver Station is unresponsive and you cannot initialize or start your selected
op mode, check the following items:

1. Verify that the Driver Station is properly paired to the Robot Controller.
2. Make sure that the Robot Controller is not in Programming Mode.
3. Check the ping times on the Driver Station main screen. The ping time is the average time it takes for the Driver
Station to send a message to the Robot Controller and for the Robot Controller to acknowledged that it received
the message. If the ping time is low (< 20 msec) the wireless connection between the Driver Station and Robot
Controller is good. If the ping time is consistently high (> 50 msec) there could be some wireless interference in
your venue that is causing the problems between the Driver Station and the Robot Controller.

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13.2.2 Warning: problem communicating…

If you are trying to run an op mode and you notice error messages like the ones displayed below, it could be that your
wired connection between the phone and the electronic modules is bad.

Figure 10 - A "problem communicating with..." message often indicates a bad connection between the phone and modules.

If you notice this error message, here are some things you can try:

1. Verify that the USB cable connecting the phone to the Expansion Hub is secure and well connected.
2. Verify that the 12V power cables connecting the battery to the switch and the Expansion Hub are properly
secured and connected. Also, verify that the power switch is in the on position.
3. Try to do a “Restart Robot” from the pop up menu (touch the three vertical dots in the upper right hand screen
of the Robot Controller or Driver Station apps).
4. If that does not work, disconnect the USB cable from the phone, then shut down the main power switch on the
Expansion Hub. Wait for 5 seconds, then power the device back on and reconnect the USB cable to the phone.

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