Race Coordinator Arduino issue

[Louisbaby]

Hey guys

Just want to find out if any of you have also had this issue. I have a windows 7 pc with the latest Race Coordinator and for the lap timing I'm using an Arduino Uno with the sketch loaded on. Sometimes there are no issues, and we can go through a whole day without any problems. Other days, we have a "link protocol" issue, which can only be solved by restarting the PC.

I have tried another Arduino board, same issue. I even tried another PC with both Arduino boards, and randomly they come up with the same issue...

Any ideas?

[boxxofrobots]

Does unplugging and replugging the arduino fix the problem?

[Louisbaby]

Unfortunately not, the PC must be rebooted for it to function again.

[RichD]

The software might have gotten corrupted somehow. You could try downloading a fresh copy of Race Coordinator, deleting the original copy from your computer and installing the new copy.
Another possibility is that the driver for the Arduino Uno has gotten corrupted. In the case of many USB devices a driver is automatically installed on your computer the first time the device is plugged in, in other cases you have to load and install the driver yourself. The original driver will have to be deleted with the Arduino board unplugged. Plugging in the Arduino board should re-install the driver.

[cgyracer]

Your "link protocol" communication issue.......are you using a standard USB "printer" cable (USB A to USB B cable) from the computer port to the arduino? There is no adapter of any sort in between correct? I have seen RC give the said communication error on computers using an an adapter of some sort.

Plus I have seen the same error when there is EMI issues. Arduino is very sensitive to EMI so make sure you are using a good quality shielded USB printer cable, this is a must. I have seen cheap printer cables cause this same issue. Careful how you route your Arduino cable so the cable is not attached to power lines. Many higher cost vendors supply a very good shielded USB cable with the Arduino but less expensive vendors do not.
I have also seen this error on a PC that had an overnight automatic windows upgrade. It's a good idea to write down what port # your Arduino is configured to on the RC Track Setup page.

It is usually something very simple so hopefully it is the case with you.
Rob

[Maddman]

EMI issues are associated with cable to cable interaction. Route the cables to the board away from other cables. You might also try installing Ferrite Beads on all cables terminated at the board. Ferrite beads can be obtained from Digikey,Mouser and other electronic supply houses.

Some very early Trakmate boards had an RFI issue that was resolved by putting the board in a grounded metal enclosure. You could try locating the board in such an enclosure.

[NCSS]

Been having this exact issue on ancient (2006 or so) laptop running XP. I updated RC in late summer, I’ll have to see if there is an update since then,

At the suggestion of a friend, we switched to using a different USB port on the laptop. So far so good, no protocol issues. Caveat: this was only last Saturday, so a grand total of four races have been run since, I have not had time to test this more thoroughly. But if you have an empty USB port it might be worth a try.

[quakebo]

Here's how we fixed the protocol error at the club I race at. I removed the usb cable and connected a 12v psu with at least 2amps to the uno board then we connected a 5v 2amp old samsung phone charger to are 4 lane relay module then I hooked up a hc-05 bluetooth board to the uno so we could connect the uno to pc using bluetooth. Have not had a problem in just over 3 years.

The problem is that a usb 2 port only outputs half an amp and we needed more than that or we would get a proocol error.
Here is a image of how our track is wired up if anyone is interested.new club diagram with wires.jpg