Field Network Setup
To begin, you'll want to start by taking out the following colored Ethernet cables from the "Long Ethernet" tote:
- 2 100' red cables
- 2 100' orange cables
- 2 100' yellow cables
- 2 100' blue cables
- 2 100' green cables
These lengths should be enough to run from the switch in the road case to each station and display if your road case is aligned with the center of the field. If you have your road case/scoring table offset to the center, you may need to use female to female Ethernet connectors and a 25'-50' cable to make sure each cable reaches the station. These can be found in the "Short Ethernet" and "Long Ethernet" totes. Plug each cable in following this guide:
Run the cables to the following locations, making sure that they are plugged into the correct station:
- red cables: one each to Red 1 and Blue 1
- orange cables: one each to Red 2 and Blue 2
- yellow cables: one each to Red 3 and Blue 3
- blue cables: one each to Red 2 and Blue 2
- green cables: one each to the lighting control boxes (note: you may have to extend one of these to reach the box)
You'll want to leave the cables for the driver stations under their respective stations for now.
Take the blue cables and run them up and over to the display for station 2 (or wherever you've put the display with the Intel NUC), and plug them in. Next, take out the three short black Ethernet cables with the female to female adapters out of the alliance station tote. Plug one into each station cable (the red, orange and yellow ones), and secure the black cable to the respective station shelve. Connect the green cables you ran to the light boxes and note each one's IP address and port.
Take the Cisco access point out of the road case drawer. Assemble the AP by screwing in the six antennas, making sure the blue dots face outward. Plug in the AP to the power supply cable located inside the back of the road case. Take a shorter (~5') Ethernet cord from the "Short Ethernet" tote and plug it in to the port on the underside of the AP. Ensure you plug it in to the port not labeled "Console", as the console port is a serial connection for administration of the AP. Next, take out one of the Cisco GBIC cards and plug it in to the GBIC port labeled "1" on the Cisco switch. Plug the Ethernet cord from the AP into this and place the AP on top of the road case.
The easiest way to connect computers and other devices to the field for display and data input is through the "Cheesy Arena" wifi network. This network will give devices full access to the various settings, match interfaces, displays, etc. so be careful who and what you give the password to. The person that was in contact with Team 254 about renting the package should have said password. You'll generally need 4 laptops for real time scoring. These laptops can be pretty much anything capable of running a modern web browser. Events have had success using anything from Windows laptops to Chromebooks. Another important device is a tablet or touchscreen computer for the head ref to add fouls, commit scores, and signal reset. Using devices such as tablets and smartphones work great for FTAs as field monitors, as they are mobile and helpful when troubleshooting. Some events also like to have a separate field monitor on a display facing outwards from the scoring table. If you'd like to connect these devices through Ethernet, you can connect them to any port on the switch labled "Vlan 2" in the diagram in the "Station Cabling" section.
Please note that none of these devices come with the Cheesy Arena package, so each event will have to provide their own scoring laptops, field displays, tablets, etc.
The road case should already be configured for advanced networking with the included hardware. If something isn't working or is wrong, ensure the configuration is the following:
Default AP address: 10.0.0.60
Default AP user: cheesyarena
Default AP password: 1234Five
Default switch address: 10.0.0.61
Default switch password: 1234Five
For field lighting, enter the IP addresses and ports for the respective sides of the field in the respective boxes.