Quote:
Originally Posted by Racer26
Also, so far? the GDC has given us one game EVER that actually needed machine vision for an optimal Auto mode: 2007.
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I have to say I agree that trying to build machine vision into the control system of an FRC robot is asking quite a bit when so few people will fully dig into it. There is a difference between merely using it and really grabbing hold of it. It is not really the most effective reason to demand an upgrade every few years to an FRC system when the older robots and that investment then become that much harder to maintain.
Personally I think that a better way to handle video recognition is on the robot not at the driver's station with the current FRC environment and for this purpose I feel that an auxilary device to process that is the more sensible. It hardly makes sense to try to find something faster than a general purpose COTS PC for the price. The market for that general purpose PC is huge compared to FIRST so of course it will be the greater performance for the price and without question each year that price will buy even more performance as long as it is allowed. Plus if you break an old laptop I doubt you'll spend more for the older model. The other way is to integrate the camera with the video recognition system in the same package. I really look at the Raspberry Pi and other COTS systems (besides a general purpose PC) as something a little more like an attempt to integrate the camera and the video recognition system (rough I admit). (Not against the Raspberry Pi or anything like that as has been demonstrated elsewhere on the forum.)
In any case I think video recognition is one of those fantastic things that inspires people to think that the robot can adapt to it's environment based on sight. Most people start thinking of the way they see and imprint that on the robot. In so many ways the way humans use sight and the way a machine does are very different things. It is an ever evolving piece of technology. On the plus side that evolution drives jobs and innovation which I'm sure students would love to have. On the other hand video recognition is no PWM. There is a point at which you can implement PWM and there's no sense to try any harder. Video recognition has so many compromises there is always something to try and always a good opportunity to look at the robot as the vehicle and the camera / video recognition as a subsystem with ample opportunity for tinkering.
I am not sure it makes sense to sell the Apple product of FRC robot control systems. That model works great when people can afford to upgrade. Making those upgrades the entire control system seems a touch more expensive than necessary.