After receiving the Expansion Hub it is advised to unbox the device, power the Expansion Hub on, and start the configuration process. Below are the required materials to run through the initial bring up of the Expansion Hub and links to the different steps of the process.
Expansion Hub (REV-31-1153)
12v Slim Battery (REV-31-1302)
Etpark Wired Controller for PS4 (REV-39-1865)
USB A Female to Micro USB (REV-31-1807)
Optional Additional Materials needed to Connect an Expansion Hub:
Expansion Hub (REV-31-1153)
XT30 Extension Cable (REV-31-1392)
JST PH 3-pin Communication Cable (REV-31-1417)
When you first receive your Expansion Hub, you will have to install the Driver Station and Robot Controller Applications and pair (link) your Driver Station (Android Device) to your Robot Controller. The following sections of the page will walk through how to install the applications and how to connect the Driver Station to the Robot Controller's Network.
In order to install the Driver Station Application or Robot Controller Application onto and Android phone, the phone's developer settings and USB debugging options need to be turned on.
The developer options on Android Devices are hidden within the phone as a default. Different phone manufactures will have different ways of accessing the developer options. However, once the developer options are available in the phone's settings, the steps for activating USB debugging and development settings are similar.
Before moving forward it is advised to look up where the developer options on your Android Device are located. For Motorolla users, the Motorolla Support Page has information on how to unlock the developer options.
Open the Android Devices settings
Scroll to the bottom of the settings, where the unlocked developer options are available. Open the developer options
At the top of the developer options page is an on/off switch. Turn the developer options on.
The device will open a confirmation message. Select 'OK.'
Scroll through the developer options until you find the Debugging section. Turn USB Debugging on.
Another confirmation message will appear, click 'OK.'
USB debugging is now on! You can move on to the steps for installing the application.
The following steps will go through how to install the Driver Station Application via the REV Hardware Client. It is possible to install the application via the FTC GitHub repository as well.
Connect the Android Device to a PC with the REV Hardware Client installed.
Startup the REV Hardware Client. Once the Android Device is fully connected it will show up on the front page of the UI under the Hardware Tab. Select the Android Device.
After selecting the Connected Hardware the Update tab will pop up. Under Driver Station App select Download.
Once the Driver Station App has downloaded, select Install.
When the application installation has completed the status for the Robot Controller App will change to "Up-to-Date."
The following steps will go through how to install the Robot Controller Application via the REV Hardware Client. It is possible to install the application via the FTC GitHub repository as well.
Connect the Android Device to a PC with the REV Hardware Client installed.
Startup the REV Hardware Client. Once the Android Device is fully connected it will show up on the front page of the UI under the Hardware Tab. Select the Android Device.
After selecting the Connected Hardware the Update tab will pop up. Under Robot Controller App select Download.
Once the Robot Controller App has downloaded, select Install.
When the application installation has completed the status for the Robot Controller App will change to "Up-to-Date."
You should update your Driver Station(DS) and Robot Controller(RC) phones to the latest app version in order to use the Expansion Hub controller. The minimum compatible version is 3.1 released on May 10th, 2017
Please ensure that the Driver Station and Robot Controller phones are properly configured and paired. Refer to the latest pairing and troubleshooting instructions provided by in the FTC Control System Wiki.
Every device connected to the Expansion Hub (REV-31-1153) will need to be added to the Robot Configuration file before you can use the device in your program. The Robot Configuration will allow you to give your sensors and actuators meaningful names that you can reference while programming.
For this example, we will configure a simple two motor robot drivetrain.
Step
Image
Select the menu on either the Driver Station or Robot Controller. Then select “Configure Robot”.
Select “New” in the top left hand corner.
Select “Expansion Hub Portal 1” (embedded).
Select “Expansion Hub 1”.
Select “Motors”.
Select the Drop Down menu for “Port 0” then select the motor type attached to the port. In the case of the Minibot in Figure 4, select the “Rev Robotics Core Hex Motor”.
Press “Enter motor name here” and name the motor “left_drive”.
This is the name that you will use when you are programming your robot to control this motor. Always use descriptive names so that you can remember what a device does when you are programming.
Repeat the process for “Port 1” and name the motor “right_drive”.
Press “Done” once to go back to the list of device ports and then select I2C Bus 0.
Add the built-in REV Expansion Hub IMU. Name it “imu”
Press the “Done” button (at the top left corner of the page) 3 times.
Press “Save”.
Enter “miniBot” as your configuration name, then select “OK”.
You now have an active configuration called “miniBot”. Press the Android back button to return to the Driver Station page.
