Re: ScoreFIRST
 

Here is the deal. The following need to happen or you won't have a competition:

1. Generate practice match list Wednesday evening.

2. Run practice matches (and all other matches in general): Display the appropriate team numbers on the field LED, make sure robot controllers are communicating with the IFI field controllers correctly, start the match with autonomous mode, make sure the 10pt ball tee behave appropriately, trigger driver mode after 15 seconds, disable the robots at the end of the match. Repeat 40 times.

3. Generate qualifying match list on Thursday. Print out qualifying match list for teams, and announcer's report for the announcer (basically a copy of the match list with all the team details on it).

4. Run qualifying matches.

5. Display scores after every match, and display clock during the matches. Display rankings in the pit area or in between matches.

6. Display final ranking at the end of qualifying rounds, print out seeding list for judges, announcer, MC, and other people.

7. Alliance selection: pair up the appropriate teams with the team captains and assign them to the elimination ladder. Print out the elimination ladder for queuing people as well as field supervisor and announcer.

8. Run elimination round, and go to the appropriate elimination match at the right time.

9. Finish the finals and pack up and go home.


There can definitely be some improvement for the over all system, but it came a long way since the first week. By the time of 3rd week at Sacramento regional, all the necessary components were working.

Basically what you need is a PLC, the white power box in previous years, that talk to the field electronics run autonomous/driver mode correctly, display the right team number and what not.

Then there is the computer with the scoring software GUI. You start a match there, disable the robots if necessary, and select the next match after the currect one is done. All the paper work is generated by the printer hooking up to this computer.

The 3rd component is a Scan Converter. All the display you want to show on the big screen is showed through the scan converter. You have to hook up the right A/V cable to it to get the necessary graphics out.

The 4th part is the pit display. You show the currect rankings at the big display. At the bottom of the flash program is scores from last match, and up coming matches.

The 5th part of the system, the most subtle one, is the network hooked up inside the console. The network is how the printer, iPaq, and the computers, and the pit display connect together.

The most important things you have to figure out, if you have to make your own scoring system, is how to connect a power box to the computer, and how to display the graphics on the big screens. Most other stuff is a piece of cake to anyone who setup networks before.