What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

arn't they making it too easy?

theyre practicly handing us the code.

oh wait... they are handing us the code!

i dont like this, but i might not see the whole picture yet...

-Leav

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

Making your own wheel turn counters and all your own encoders and suff is half the fun. Heck we were excllent with our programming last year. But now all you have to do is say left pi over 2 radians. This is sersiouly gonna be too easy.

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

Well, I think they are handing us code because my thougts are that the game is going to need a lot of mechanical work because they are almost handing us all the needed code.

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

We had a scripting language that worked exactly like that last year. It took us a few weeks to refine it, but it worked nicely. I think everyone will be happy with the simplicity this allows - except those of us that developed it independently ;) (once we finished the graphical interface, we would've made it more public anyway)

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the impression most of us got last year about the IR sensors and other small electronics. However, it turned out that IR was one of the least used features of the Kit because they were a pain in the butt to successfully code, especially when the math capabilities of the controller were less than stellar.

The scripting language will mean that MANY more teams will use the sensors instead of doing something like dead reckoning.

I for one welcome our new scripting overlords. ;)

Dave :D

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

I think thats what we may try this year... a graphical setup...

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

It will help us with some aspects of the programming yes but this will allow everyone to have an autonomous mode. Which can be good for rookie teams but still, making your own language is half the fun

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

This is going to make the basic programming very simple but I also allows teams to do alot more than before. Personally I am looking forward to seeing exactly how far we can push it. Also those of you who are good at programming can extend the ability of the scripting software so you can use it in years to come.

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

I can't say that I mind too much, what with me being the most experienced programmer on the team, other than two of the mentors, and not being an expert on it myself. I think that with this, we won't have to worry so much about how to make the program work, but what we want it to do. But of course, if you like a challenge, I suppose you could just write all the scripts yourself.

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

Yes programing abilities will be greatly extended...might be intersting, might be newbish

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

I think I found the software page:

http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/C_help.htm

Dave

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

I like it. It gives you more time to come up with complex situations rather than spending a week figuring out mathematical complexities. Plus, you can worry less now about whether or not your robot ACTUALLY drives perfectly straight. It also makes life easier for the rookie teams that may not have the knowledge they need for previous FIRST programming. And, like Dave said, it let's teams mingle, trade, and combine code for an even more astounding autonomous period!

I remember watching 67 last year at Nationals and wanting to know how they wrote all their coding. This enables the students that don't REALLY speak programming to understand everything that's going on. In essence, it gives everyone the ability to be a programmer.

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

This is real life. Nobody is going to pay you to write something thats already been done a hundred times. The challenge is to take all of this pre-existing code and do something useful with it. Believe me, I understand what you're saying. Do you honestly think that NASA could have put those rovers on Mars if they wrote everything from scratch? Take what they give you, study it, and extend it. Its great to want to do it yourself, but while you're coding and testing your math library in week three you could be refining some mind blowing autonomous code.

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

Guys, you havent even seen the new software. Wait until your kits get in, and try out the (new?) IDE.

All I have to say is.. new program stuff is frickin sweet.

Re: What do you think about how easy theyre making programming?
 

I think they're giving us a hand with the programming because this is a strategy-based game. The robots and the programming don't need to be all that complicated, but with six robots and only two minutes, strategy is everything.