[WizenedEE]

So you want something that will do the same printf commands as the C-RIO does and with the same joystick functions? What we were trying to get at is if you wanted to run some wheels, flash some lights, display to a computer screen, or something else.

To get joysticks, you'd have to connect to the driver station software, and I doubt that's easy without the programmed C RIO. If you wanted to learn about how to read a joystick connected to your computer, though, USB joysticks get recognized by windows and you could skip the DS -- just plug it into your own computer. Reading that Cypress IO board could get harder though.