Originally Posted by Jon Stratis
Up in Duluth two weeks ago comm issues were pretty rare. There were a couple of teams that had recurring issues (and we worked with them to try to resolve those issues, and in some cases succeeded), but there were many more teams that went out and ran every match without a single problem.
There are really two issues with having a control system: capability and support.
First, capability:
The old IFI systems were great, but they lacked in capability compared to what we have today. Back in Rack 'N Roll we tried to get vision tracking to work, and had a horrible time with the camera that was available then. With the new system, vision tracking is actually pretty simple... but it brings with it problems some teams encounter, like having too high of a framerate and bogging down the CPU.
Back then, you had to use Spikes to control all of your 12V solenoids. Today, you have the additional option of using 24V solenoids, AND don't need to control them with spikes.
Back then, power management was interesting. You had multiple distribution boards for high and low current applications, you had DIN rails feeding those, there was no visual feedback when something was wrong, and there were no regulated outputs. Today, the power distribution board has all of that and makes everything dealing with power much simpler.
Back then, you only had Victors. I know, a lot of people still prefer the Victors, and that's fine. But the Jaguars bring a whole host of increased capability, and I know our team has found ways to use all of that capability over the years.
Back then, you could only use serial connectors for your driver station unless you bought a special converter to allow you to use USB.
Back then, you had channel overlap problems when trying to get 6 teams together to practice in the off season. Today, we use wifi which is more stable, but brings with it a different set of issues.
Now, what features would you be willing to give up for a new control system, and what features would you want added? Keep in mind that any feature you don't use, other teams undoubtedly will.
Now, for Support:
Having adequate support is a huge issue when we're talking about a control system as complex as we need. Realistically, you need a large company and millions of users out there in order to get the support to ensure no one has any serious issues. As it is, we get reps from NI at the regionals (there were two in Duluth) helping teams out, tracking field performance and fixing any issues that come up. We have an amazing support library for 3 languages that makes programming the robot dead simple (especially when compared to the old IFI system).
If anyone has a better control system, I would strongly encourage them to bring it forward. If you find something cheaper, more capable and with better support, I know FIRST will want to hear about it.
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