Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

That has already begun, well tried to begin:) Still waiting on the training videos. In time, they will be up.

My biggest question right now is, what ver. of LABView will we be using and where can we get our hands on a copy soon. If it is the same as was in the 2008 KOP, cool, if not, then we will need it soon.

BTW, did you notice on the sidecar that the PWM connectors are completely different. Time to stock up on new pins and connectors.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

Looking forward to comparing notes...I'm not familiar with NI's product but have developed PLC's SLC's and RIO for Allen Bradley. Should be interesting..

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

Your right - I meant 9403.

The PWM's and servos generally need higher current drivers as well as the power source for the servos. I think their idea is to keep only standard NI components plugged into the chassis with all non-NI parts external.

Yes is this is more like a platform for research/academia but also suited for one-offs and low volume which, after all, is what we are.

There is no question that it's neat hardware. The open issue is how well it can help achieve the mission of first when a hands-on controller is $6K instead of $300.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

Oh, yeah. After all, it's an analog input module, so its purpose would be to receive data. The PWM cables that hook up to speed controllers would be output.

I guess I was worried about how all the data would be transferred. There's only so much you can do with 37 pins. But hey, the tether cable we've been using for the past few years only required 9 pins to transmit all that data. Why am I worrying so much?

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

I don't think the issue is at all about level playing fields. It's about how each teams program can adjust if possible to such a major change. The most scary thing is:
At first glance it looks like we use LABVIEW or skip the 2009 season. Use LABVIEW in FTC or forget about synergies. I hope very much that this isn't the case but it sure looks like it from the available information.

Some teams need to make budgets and other program decision in the next few months. Some teams need to decide how many FTC - how many FRC (if any) or how many in other programs. Hopefully we will see more information soon to allow such decision to be made.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

I am excited about the new controller I think it will make the FIRST competition better in the long run but next year I feel will have several major headaches.

Namely do we know what company is manufacturing the custom parts for us like the bumper modules, driver station, and the sidecar?
These prototype cases and modules all seem slightly flimsy compared to the 50g shock rated cRIO.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

Would you be surprised to find out it only used 3 wires: Tx, Rx and gnd.:yikes:

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

Why do you honestly think you won't be able to program in C? As far as I can tell there is just as much information about the Labview programing as there is programing in C/C++.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

Yes. I would be.

Thanks, everyone, for answering most of my questions.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

on a side note, it was either on the FIRST website or the NI site, but there will be a special version of LabVIEW available for teams next year to use with this.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

No IEEE 802.11 b/g has 11 channels in the U.S. and Canada. The reason you cannot use them all at once is that adjacent channels overlap this gives you 6 channel that can be run on top of each other. Or sequenced overlap of 1,3,5,7,9,11,2,4,6,8,10 in one dimension.
or
____1
__3___5
7___9___11
__4___2
____6
in two dimensions

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

The PWM connectors require the exact same cabling as before. They just have the added benefit of friction-based locking. Also, notice that there are lots of vast lengths of space in between the connectors.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

There are only 3 NON-OVERLAPPING CHANNELS for b/g because the channels are 5 MHz wide and 802.11b/g occupies a little more than 20mhz. The channel number refers to the center frequency. You can use center frequency on channels 1, 6, 11 without mutual interference. Some 802.11n signals are 40 Mhz wide. The channels for 802.11a are 10 mhz wide and every other channel can be used to provide 8 NON-Overlapping channels.

In 802.11b/g in the U.S. you can use any of 11 channels you like as your center frequency but there will be interference with other stations using channels less than 5 from you channel. That is not to say that running say 6 access points on 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 won't work - they will work but there will be mutual interference, retransmissions, etc.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

They said 11 and 11 usually means 11... They'll release the details with time just wait a little bit.

Also don't just think of the US there are teams in Israel, Puerto Rico, Chile, Brazil, Netherlands, Great Britain, and hopefully more next year.

Re: NEW 2009 Control System Released
 

WOW, this is what i wanted, but not at all what I expected. How do they expect me to wait until next year for this. Any one else excited about the FPGA possibilities? I hope we will be able to do the verlog an VHDL with out too much abstraction. I guess its time to roll out the grants and start writing.

Teaching this to the rest of the team and learning it my self is going to be a challenge more so then last year, I just hope I wont have to run build again this year. This could be a year where the programing makes or breaks it for teams.

This system is going to up the cool factor when showing it off the companies, it just looks more cutting edge with the wires and stuff hanging out like they do.

Did i say FPGA?
FPGA