Driver's computer ?

[DominickC]

Hello -

Our team is going to use an IBM ThinkPad as our driver's computer as it's got a bit more power than the lil Classmate. Now, on the Classmate, the driver's account loads up the Dashboard and Drivers Station immediately, and does not allow anything else to be loaded.

I understand that you are not permitted to use third party applications during the competition, but do we have to image our ThinkPad with the E11 to make it 'legal' ? Or will we pass by with deleting everything from the Driver's account on our ThinkPad and just opening the Driver's Station and Dashboard ?

Thanks.

[MagiChau]

I can definitely say don't use the reimaging key since it is only meant for the specific classmate computer.

[RufflesRidge]

I understand that you are not permitted to use third party applications during the competition

I'm pretty sure there isn't a rule that says this. Doesn't mean it's a bad idea to have a "clean" account to operate out of, but I don't believe it's required.

[DominickC]

Gotcha, thanks. I'll have a squeaky "clean" account for competition :p

[PAR_WIG1350]

3rd party (or team developed) dashboards, such as zomB, are allowed, the drivers station provided by FIRST is mandatory

[alectronic]

Please do be careful with using DS other than the classmate. From my scorekeeper experience, about 1/2 the time we have robots not connecting/disabled during a match it is as a result of the computer setup. It sucks to have teams miss matches from mistakes like that!

[Chris_Ely]

See this attachment:

[DominickC]

See this attachment:

Err, no.

I'll be sure to have everything in top working condition before we solidify our decision to use the ThinkPad. Thanks.

[shuhao]

Use the classmate to drive, get another computer to do the heavy lfting. Either on board or otherwise.

[nitneylion452]

Use the classmate to drive, get another computer to do the heavy lfting. Either on board or otherwise.

What is your argument for using the classmate to drive?

[junefish]

We're not going to be using the Classmate to drive this year because of the need for more processing power (so as to enable vision tracking). Instead, we're going to upgrade to a (probably) 14" screen one.

[Trez]

What is your argument for using the classmate to drive?

I would recommend using the classmate to drive. We used a Dell laptop to drive last year and and it was very unreliable, though a Thinkpad would probably not have very many problems.

Last year I remember the judges getting very mad at us and blaming us for problems with the field equipment even though our lead programer (who is a very intelligent person) was positive it was not our fault. So I guess using another laptop could make your team a target for hate.

Also there are power connections built into the field for the class mates.

[nitneylion452]

I would recommend using the classmate to drive. We used a Dell laptop to dive last year and and it was very unreliable, though a Thinkpad would probably not have very many problems.

Last year I remember the judges getting very mad at us and blaming us for problems with the field equipment even though our lead programer (who is a very intelligent person) was positive it was not our fault. So I guess using another laptop could make your team a target for hate.

Also there are power connections buildt into the field for the class mates.

Good reasons. I was trying to make a point that saying things without backing them up with logical reasons is not something that is really highly regarded on CD. Always remember to provide reasons (whether they be facts or personal experiences) for your stance. It's good practice, not only here, but also in the real world. Seeing that many of you guys in this thread recently started here, I though this would be a good point to make.

Welcome to CD, anyway!

[linuxboy]

I would recommend using the classmate to drive. We used a Dell laptop to dive last year and and it was very unreliable, though a Thinkpad would probably not have very many problems.

Last year I remember the judges getting very mad at us and blaming us for problems with the field equipment even though our lead programer (who is a very intelligent person) was positive it was not our fault. So I guess using another laptop could make your team a target for hate.

Also there are power connections built into the field for the class mates.

I remember from some offseasons teams that used non-classmates for driver stations did have some problems, but I don't think it was significantly more prevalent than on the standard classmate. The things that I recall being problems on custom machines: Driver account not named Driver (won't be a problem this year), firewall issues (Honestly, Classmate or not, I would just disable this at the competition, just in case), and antivirus as it can take up a lot of processing power.

Make sure you can connect on practice day, as that is when the field staff will be under the least time pressure, and can probably tell you better what the problem is.

Edit: Just actually read the OP's post (oops) and it Do Not image your thinkpad with the E11 key, you will actually brick the thinkpad, because the E11 key has specific drivers for the 2011 classmate.

- Oliver

[shuhao]

About AV, just don't install those

[Joe Ross]

About AV, just don't install those

It's irresponsible to recommend not installing AV software for anything other then very limited circumstances. It's unlikely that a driver station computer that is shared between multiple people are one of those cases. At the LA regional in 2010, approximately 1/3 of people's memory sticks that they used to turn in their BOMs were virus infected.

[Trez]

Good reasons. I was trying to make a point that saying things without backing them up with logical reasons is not something that is really highly regarded on CD. Always remember to provide reasons (whether they be facts or personal experiences) for your stance. It's good practice, not only here, but also in the real world. Seeing that many of you guys in this thread recently started here, I though this would be a good point to make.

Welcome to CD, anyway!

Oh I see, I kinda took your phrase out of context. Sorry! haha Thanks for the welcome!

[Garrett.d.w]

Last year we used an HP laptop for our drivers station because we wanted the touch screen. We never had any connectivity issues that could be traced directly to the computer. We only lost connectivity once, and that was because we hadn't rebooted the CRIO after the previous match.

I would actually recommend not using the classmate as a drivers station because, with more power, you can do more interesting things and add features that could bog down the classmate. That being said, test it extensively before using a "custom" drivers station computer. It would be unfortunate if you had connectivity issues due to your choice of computer.