Here are some other things I'd like to mention.
If the GDC wants to limit what can and can't be done in the Jags, they should have TI write new firmware to disallow any possibility of using these functions. I had a long conversation with the Black Jag designer and firmware programmer from TI last year at the Championship about all the good and bad of the closed-loop firmware that TI provided on the Jags. We were one of the teams that decided to take a risk that the CANJaguar software for the cRIO and Jaguar firmware would mature enough to operate properly for last year. If this was disallowed last year, then there were some serious oversights from the GDC. And now that the code has matured to its greatest form to-date it is illegal. Why would FIRST want TI to improve its closed-loop firmware and also sanction a CANJaguar project if the code is not even going to be used?
Also, as someone stated below, distributed computing and control systems is THE FUTURE. How can FIRST claim to be investing in the future if they want to impose archaic designs on teams? We're already using a processor that was introduced almost 20 years ago. Every system around us uses multiple application specific devices. To remove these concepts is shortsighted.
Lastly, the Jags basically have a timeout. They're not supposed to keep functioning if a signal is lost - and this timeout I believe is ?100ms. This is well below the threshold for human comprehension. If there is no signal, the Jag shuts down. So to say that the cRIO is not controlling the Jag has be to based on how long one expects the latency to be between the cRIO and the Jag. For example, if the cRIO commands 90 degrees (in position feedback mode) and the motor is currently at 0 degrees, there will be a time delay between when the motor starts moving and when it reaches 90 degrees. The cRIO must keep commanding 90 degrees in order for the Jag to keep trying to make the motor go to 90 degrees. If at any time a signal is lost, the Jag will stop commanding the motor and everything will stop.
I also hope this ruling is retracted
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One step forward, two steps back.