For starters no one can deny the great capabilities that the kinect has and most programmers would love to put this on their robot.
a few problems
1. bad connection between crio and kinect
2. the kinect cant use the ir depth sensor to find retro reflective tape
3. programming in java, c++, or lab view would be kind of reinventing the wheel with C# implementation of the kinect
for the teams that want to use the kinect i have a solution that might be a little hefty for some teams
just a few items to pick up
atx motheroard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138293
cpu 2.6 Ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103944
a stick or 2 of ram
and finally a DC - DC power supply
http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/it.A/id.417/.f
What a computer on the robot why???
usb connections and Ethernet connections
usb -> kinect
Ethernet -> crio sending basic commands like aim left or right
what operating system you might ask
puppy linux or tiny core for their capability of loading all data from a flashdrive to ram so if a cold shutdown occurs it doesnt mess up your harddisk
with mono in your linux machine you can start up an exe file developed in C# on your programming computer and transfer it from the bin file
have the exe file start up when your linux box starts send commands over Ethernet saying aim left aim right
complexity 8/10
benefits over regular camera 2/10
bragging rights 10/10
the reason i posted this online is because i want it to be done but it appears our team has decided not to do it.
Does this sound like a good method and what do you guys think