Troubleshooting Patterns

Troubleshoot: to discover and eliminate problems or malfunctions in (software, mechanical equipment, etc.). To trace the problem to correct.

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The one example I have fresh in my mind is dealing with a Robotics program using alphabet magnets (the kind that do best on refrigerators) and the iVision Software having its offset recalculate the position of the magnet and not getting its target. The instructor had gone through the list of troubleshooting for the Robot malfunction, first checking the settings. Then, watching the robot approach the target. Finding the taught location and then determining that it was the actual magnet on the alphabet letter that needed to be in a certain direction. 

Watching any technical troubleshooting, requires hands-on learning and understanding the process of setup. Was there a missing step? Is there an update in the software? Is there a physical error - wrapped cords, stressed joints, wrong calibration, etc. Then, evaluating it from the machine perspective. How is this programmed and what is the machine interpreting it as? 

Troubleshooting on the job

Something I have learned on the job with troubleshooting is be there. Any call that is made for an error, be there. Nobody on the shift encountered the problem before? Be there for the solution and follow the problem until it is solved. Watching it become solved is ideal, but perhaps not always possible, depending on the resources available. Some mechanical errors can only be solved when the manufacturer becomes involved, a license holder, or very experienced tech. 

Most places where troubleshooting is a skillset, happens often, it is in your job description - they may have a 10-7 list (or error list, malfunction list). Always know this before your shift and diagnose it yourself. Have your name on the machine logs, go through your own troubleshooting skillset (even if you know it may not be useful) and encounter the problem in your own experience. Most technicians that open that machine to diagnose will prove to their employer that they were there, diagnosed the problem, and sometimes even log their upboot or working condition to know that they have learned from the error and can add it to their troubleshoot criteria. 

The things that you can do as its tech, in any error, does depend on your clearance, password, or security integrity for qualified persons to handle the situation as well. Not everything could be in the tech domain, and may reside in auditing, accounting, or software installation defaults. There are multiple facets that affect machine and the maintenance of its operable functioning. 

Best Troubleshoot Discovery?

The most I have seen involved strong hands and contorting the hardware to fit again. Wear and tear of machines used daily have a tendency to overheat, become warped, and have clips or locks that become loose. Having the perfect fit is having the tools to provide its optimal user experience by doing common sense practical solutions. I know one thing to never do - is underestimate the ground wires and the static charge that can build while working on machines with power sources. I must refrain from duct tape solutions and remember I am a professional and want my work to look professional when I am done. If it cannot be fixed, let it go, and let another tech attempt (then watch them solve it!). 

Most times, just knowing how to reset the machine works good too. It might be more common today than it was a decade ago. The people learning Linux using ping, finding the machine IP Address and manipulating data commands (even temporarily) can be a consistent problem. They ping the machine daily, if not hourly, knowing that they may have access to any number of open data and able to record whatever data from it are a risk to the company. How to protect these servers, networks, and individual machines when the connection to secure it is at risk? Many machines have IP Addresses, its very important to have a separate team that can secure these addresses and maintain its security for the integrity of the business itself.

Mileage Reports

When its the company profile to build machine repetoire and preventative maintenance techniques or mileage logs of operation time. Machines do have expiration dates, as well as software for them, and now license reportings to maintain. So, its going to need a tech to maintain logs and be able to read history of the machine to know what they are looking for when evaluating the mileage reports to know what the machine may need at that time of error. These are usually a lead technician profile of listing damage reports or expectations of how a machine may behave. They breathe and have a lifetime - so its best to diagnose as soon as possible and push back the expiration as much as possible! Know what they are. Ask what the lifetime is. 

__Mischief

Programming with Robotics (Fanuc & iVision)

FANUC with iVision Software Robotics

Fanuc Robotics are industrial robotics with a Japanese Company stationed with regional offices within the United States. The robots produced are used with iVision software to "see" products as they can be taught to identify quality control and type of parts needed. 

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Working with Fanuc Robots helped with understanding the machine logic for programming with code...

Machine logic is different from core curriculum mathematical concepts and depend heavily on binary. The machine receives its language and can conduct tasks with computers but if you know nothing of this process, its hard to determine what that code is doing and how to use it to your learning advantage. Taking a robotics course with NWTC (Northeast Wisconsin Technical College) helped with the hands-on approach to learning syntax, logic, and manipulating code to produce programs. Getting the program to work and the robot to correspond with your commands is rewarding - highly recommend taking this course if you are a hands-on learner and want to know the simple rewards of producing a program that works! 

Elegant Robotics is usually witnessed by the instructors, certified aids, and constant users of the trade...

To program and become familiar with FANUC does take effort and patience. But if you fail enough times, your bound to adjust and memorize special details that help the program flow much smoother, graceful, and without effort to the robot. I enjoyed how the preventative maintenance in how a program is operated was struck on as the programmer's responsibility. If the robot is less strained and can move effective with speed by coordinating its joints and type of movement - that robot could be as graceful as a flamingo without stirring the water. 

Programs I worked with while obtaining the Robotics Certificate with NWTC were moving parts from one part of the user frame to the next, using the suction cup to lift pictures of broken or perfect cookies as taught using the iVision system, picking up magnetic alphabet letters using a reference point to identify 3 different letters, and calibration was a huge priority when doing any programming. 

Building these programs helped with remembering that even though this type of robotics doesn't breathe or has any networking internally, it still requires a programming finesse to maintain its parts and overall health as a robot. I worked with calibration settings on a smaller scale before this so I was glad to improve the scale and type of calibration. 

I am very excited to receive this certificate. I wasn't going to pursue it but its two semesters with in-depth modules that improve my programming interest and understanding for future work. I want to specialize in binary with programming software and using interface design to help with the security components of daily tasks and programs we are using. Its also important to include the robotics and machines we are working with as a part of the Earth. I am very fortunate to have the resources and background to translate binary in a relational form so that machine and human are separated by their heirloom threads online to describe an intangible connection on Earth. This course helped me remember that the tools we make, can also be sacred, and those that take care of these tools advance far in the universe for understanding their extensions. 

Everything we do in a new space is not without tools. Hopefully in my lifetime, I can improve those tools and use them!

__Mischief