Driver station computer limits
 

This year for competition we are thinking of using a new laptop for our driver station computer. However we are unable to find any rules about the size of driver station computers. Is there any rules limiting driver station computers? If so where? Thanks

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

I don't recall any rules specifically limiting the size of the driver station computer. However, you probably want your laptop fitting on your OPERATOR CONSOLE in such a way that it doesn't interfere with your drive controls; the OPERATOR CONSOLE has to fit on a shelf 5 ft. 9 in. wide x 1 ft. deep (section 2.2.8). Also keep in mind that the computer needs to have an Ethernet port to connect to the FMS, and that you will probably be carrying around your OPERATOR CONSOLE and a heavy/bulky laptop may become annoying to deal with.

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

To quote the rule:

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

There aren't any real restrictions that I know of. But be careful about getting a computer that does not have a FIRST supported operating system.

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

You don't want to come to the field with the biggest and most expensive alienware laptop you can find. Not only will it be easy for it to be stolen, it will take up most of the space you have available! Think wisely. A netbook-sized computer will suffice for most teams!

No need to go for this :D :D :D :D :D

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

One would hope that the FIRST community is above stealing other teams' computers...

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

Nah. not the teams. More of the audience and the spectators when they are visiting the team, probably! Anyways, that was just for the sake of LOL :D

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

You'd be surprised. I've heard some of the stories of stuff disappearing when left unattended.

OTOH, I've also heard some of the stories of FIRST teams STOPPING stuff from disappearing, so it goes both ways.

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

Sweet thanks for the help.

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

If I was getting a computer that was dedicated for driver station use, I'd buy a 3 year old Thinkpad and put an SSD into it. A new computer solely for driver station use is overkill, and a solid Thinkpad is going to hold up well for driver station use.

All of our team computers are circa 2008 Dell laptops (Latitude D830), and work great as driver stations and development machines.

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

Just get an el cheapo netbook and overkill it with 4GB ram and 64GB SSD (all you'll need for the DS, programming tools, Windows, etc. (Note, I use Win7 with VS exp, FRC java tools and the DS on a 32GB SSD! :D. No wonder I ran out of space when I tried installing eclipse :D)

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

The driver station and dashboard are not incredibly intensive programs to run. Obviously, using a higher-end computer will make it run faster, but there's no need to buy a fancy gaming desktop for competition.

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

Just to clarify, I proposed an SSD for reliability reasons, not performance reasons. Any 5400 RPM disk from the last several years is plenty fast enough for a driver station.

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

However, a small (64GB) SSD will be more than what you'll need for FRC, and can be obtained at a moderate price!

Has anyone tried 3G/4G in their laptop? I know that it is an option in some laptops (mine can be upgraded tohave a SIM tray). It could allow the drivers to google things once-in-a-while, to try to debug fatal errors that they are having!

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

Please don't do that

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

Make sure its durable and can withstand a fall. Accidents do happen!

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet, but if someone has, forgive the redundancy - USB Ports, and the number of them are a critical driver's station computer's attributes. In a perfect world, the ideal Driver's station computer has one or two more USB ports than you'd ever need, and all of them are capable of providing a decent bit of current (IIRC, something like 1-2a?).

In 2010 when the switch was made from the 'blue box' to the classmate, a lot of teams had issues running multiple devices from the classmate without using a USB hub that had a secondary power cord. I think this issue has become less prominent since the rules regarding the DS computers were opened in the last few years, but it's still something to keep in mind.

Also, this might be the grumpy old man in me, but for the love of all things related to robots, keep the driver's station clean. By clean, I mean free of any unrelated software, games, unnecessary files, etc. The computer being used for the Driver's station, should only be used for that purpose, and possibly as a computer that a programmer can use to write code... There's nothing worse than showing up to a match and watching a team restart their driver's station because someone was playing a game 5 minutes before and the computer crashed...

Re: Driver station computer limits
 

Your friendly FTAs will agree with you as well here. It doesn't hurt to make sure that you have administrator access on the computer as well so that if/when you have an issue connecting to your robot, we can get in and adjust settings if necessary.