Thank You IFI

[Natchez]

IFI, the Robonauts would like to thank you for your dedication and relentless field support at past FRC events ... WE MISS YOU! For over a decade, we took it for granted that someone would be on the field, wearing out the knees on a pair of jeans, making sure ALL of the robots were ready to go when we heard 3-2-1-GO!

Thank you from the bottom of our IFI controllers,
The Robonauts

[Tom Line]

Definitely thanks to IFI. It was remarkable how bullet-proof most of their systems were.

I'm also going to say, thank you National Instruments! The new controllers have capabilities the old ones never dreamed of, with many basic features built in that have allowed less experienced teams to address the challenge this year rather than learning just how to make the robot move.

In addition, the wireless uploads and data feedback that we get to the dashboards are incredible, and have helped immensely with debugging.

We all know that the last time a new controls system was introduced there were a lot of field problems - we know NI will get this system sorted out and running the same way IFI did.

I look forward to the day when the NI system is optimized enough to allow video streaming through the web camera (without rebundling, etc).

Perhaps this post should be a universal sponsor thank you - to past, present, and future sponsors that let us do this thing that we love.

[R.C.]

I wanted to start this post also but never got around to. Thank you IFI for all the support and thank you NI. Great stuff and thanks for investing in FIRST Robotics.

[lynca]

Definitely thanks to IFI. It was remarkable how bullet-proof most of their systems were.


I think there is a big difference when one company is responsible for all communication systems involved in the competition.

I feel like we have transitioned from an all-in-one system (similar to Mac.) to a multiple vendor system (PC) where communications and components are all split into different vendors.

I don't really like those P.C. vs. Mac commercials but this one had some great robot action so here it is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLbJ8YPHwXM

[Akash Rastogi]

Also thank you IFI for those oh so reliable victors! Not to mention VEX.

MORT <3 VEX

[Greg McKaskle]

In DC, it became apparent that there was some confusion as to where the different elements of the control system come from. I won't try to identify every sponsor/supplier, but I would like to point out that the HW elements provided by or designed by NI is the cRIO and the modules. That is possible in part due to the gracious parts donations of many NI suppliers. Some of them are listed in this article http://outsideinnovation.blogs.com/pseybold/2008/05/national-instru.html.

On the SW side, NI provided LabVIEW. WindRiver provided the VxWorks tools and IDE. The WPI SW libraries were developed by a team of people from NI, BAE, and WPI. Documentation was provided by this group and FIRST.

Support is being provided by a huge group of people from many companies and individuals. This can cause confusion as everyone is simply trying to diagnose issues and get to the bottom of things. NI is proud to join with other companies and supply what we feel are world class products to be used in the FIRST competition, but we do not deserve credit for running the events or for elements provided by other suppliers.

Good luck, and hope to see you in Atlanta.
Greg McKaskle

[Qbranch]

NI: I know you are pouring a lot of money into FIRST and I thank you kindly for it, but, well, I guess this is sort of a reminiscent post, and without this paragraph would probably sound unappreciative. This is certainly not the case.

IFI:

The three years I was in FIRST as a high school student were the final three years for the IFI robot controller ('06-'08). I had a FANTASTIC time learning about and writing code for the controller; the use of a Microchip (thanks microchip for all your money, effort, time as well) embedded processor added a great learning experience to robot construction for programmers. I know that the skills learned doing that close-to-the-machine coding necessary with the IFI RC proved useful for many who have since graduated from their respective teams. That is, at least it has been very useful for me. I'm still using Microchip processors for projects here at the U of I, at the moment to build an integrated control/monitor/datalogging system for a pulling tractor. Not sure I'd be able to program something like that up without all the experience I gained from working with the IFI RC. Also, in this age of multi-gigahertz processors, a little reality check about how much you can (http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/vids/08arc/arc_qm67.wmv) do with 40 MHz (http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/vids/08iri/iri_sf1m1.mp4) is never a bad thing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjGyQPax5Vo).

Victors I believe will live on for many years to come. Perhaps not in FIRST, but certainly in other robotics and process control applications. For the price they are (I won't hesitate to say) the best general purpose motor drives one can buy.

Thank you, IFI. :]

-q

[Kyle Love]

Thank you IFI! I miss seeing the IFI guys at the competition that I knew by name or by face. IFI's devotion to FIRST got it to the high caliber that it is today. Some say that the control system was underpowered, but if it were not for them, we would have still be using an array of electronics and not be on the same playing field. IFI truly is a class act company, with great employees and GREAT customer service. I will go on supporting VEX and using word of mouth to add to your guys' amazing "street rep". Thanks again IFI! You will be/are missed.