Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

You suggestions for the breaker panel are a good idea. The one time we had a mesterious breaker problem, we didn't have time to connect a serial cable up to see which breaker had tripped. Current monitoring would be invaluable in managing our power wisely. It could defiantely be done within the current size. The price would probably have to be raised though.

It would also prevent unnessary drain on the backup. Now what would be really cool is if they integrated something like that circuit they released that would actually charge the backup from the main batt.

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

Current monitoring, limiting and protection is best done at the ESC. To do this the Victors would have to get smart and the PWM method of control would have to go. Then that brings up the subject of interfacing the ESC with some kind of buss. Then there is the problem of what buss, the clock rate of the buss, latency and the master slave-protocol. RS232, RS485, CAN what ever and the async nature would greatly change the way we program the RC no matter what form or processors are in it. No matter what form the OI/RC takes in the future I hope a graphical programming environment is included as an option to program the RC. Our team was a minimalistic effort this year. Mostly rookies and we used EASY-C. Programming was not a worry and in fact the robot code was mostly written and debugged between matches on Thurs. and Fri. The quick programming and prototyping of easy c allowed us to get things worked out and working well for Sat. Made it to the finals at PHIL. With MPLAB we would have been marginal.

One last comment. The radio modems are expensive. I'll mention it again. Zigbee modules offer the opportunity to integrate the RF and master proc in the RC and could be the whole OI and they offer allot of bang for the buck.

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

We are the ones that spent all the time working on the PS2 controller, and we WOULD LOVE it if IFI supported different conrollers. The PS2 controller box we made has it's moments, and isn't perfect all the time. Yes - we use it 100% of the time, and it's awesome to drive, but the software is a pain. It would save people alot of time to just plug in a controller to the OI and spend time putting in gyros and gear tooth sensors (which we ignored in order to get the PS2 controller working.) We just tried something new, and would be happy if IFI made it better. (And it could be alot better...)

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

They could just add an additional analog current sense pin to keep interoperability with traditional RC equipment. Personally i think that a bus would be great. If we could daisy chain the speed controllers, the wiring would be much more organized. Just think of running a single cable over to your victors. The Victors already have a PIC. I think a multidrop buss like CAN, i2C, or RS485 would be great. I would love to see smart victors. It might cut reliability, as a compamise of any one cable could down everything downstream, but a good connector/cable combination should cut this down altogether.

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

IFI is working on a new controller. They admitted as much when I inquired on future availability for a team just starting up and needing something to work with before the build season in 2007. A new model may be available as early as late in the Fall.

This of course does not mean the FIRST must use the new controller, only that there will be a model from IFI.

My speculation is that if they were doing radical changes, it would not be announced until Kickoff if it impacts the competition.

In case IFI is reading this forum for ideas to ensure ensure acceptance of their new design my top picks are:
1) Smaller footprint for the RC
2) More secure connectors than those on PWM cables
3) USB support on the OI
4) Support for Saitek or similarly adjustable (left or right handed) controllers

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

My team in the previous years and we continued this this year, we put strong velcro on the back of the backup battery and we dont have to worry about it all season.

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

At NATs, we were told we couldnt use velcro and had to remove it in favor of zip ties.

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

You heard it boys, no water game 2007! Whooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we don't have to have another discussion...right?

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

Curses! I was already honing my 3DSMax skils to design our holographic robot interface....

Seriously, though. I was bored and browsing the 32-bit PIC on Microchip's site and I was drooling over some of the features. More specifically, the compare output pins. 5 or 8 pins where you need just one timer and very little setup for the compare modules to happily spend thier time generating an endlessly repeating PWM pulsetrain. Just dump a new value into a compare register and the pulse width changes, no interrupts or function calls needed. Plus, you know, native 32-bit math.

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

We had velcro AND zip ties... its not like we didn't try! :) Thats partially why it was so disturbing and frustrating.

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

That inspector needs their hard drive wiped and the common sense upgraded from version dingbat 1.0. This is a perfectly acceptable practice, and it has been done and approved for many years.

The only place on a robot that you can't use Velcro is for a traction device.

...sigh


Andy B.

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

John... you're the man. I know you can handle it. Think of it as "water cooled."

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

Hmm... this upgrade could potentially mean more radio channels than the 40 available now.

Maybe this is a sign that there will be more robots on the field at once, or more fields at the Championship, or both...??

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

Or maybe just a more reliable radio system... I know my team and several others had problems with the radios at Great Lakes Regional this year, and there were also similar issues in 2005. Regardless of any other changes, I'm sure the new system will be more robust and reliable :)

Re: IFI Control System (OI/RC) - The Future???
 

No pressure on IFI eh Jeff? :p

I don't think we're going to see any major changes, however I would definitely like to see a few rollbacks. Maybe back to the original non-glitchtastic PIC with a memory module hanging off it?

Definitely want screw head power connectors again. I like the standardized PWM connectors too much to trade compatibility for comfort. Hot glue works fine for that.

I know I'm going against the grain here, but does anyone else feel like we need to make less changes, not more?