[NotInControl]

Originally Posted by virtuald

Agreed that it would work, but would fail the 'easy to use' requirement, given that most computers nowadays don't have serial ports.

Every computer I ever owned has at least one serial port - Universal Serial Bus

I'm just being idiotic. I know you meant modern computers are lacking a RS-232 interface.

Sidetracking off the main post, but in all seriousness, you can get a USB-to-serial converter for like $5.

We made our own for even less from radioshack parts, but here is one at amazon

http://www.amazon.com/PL2303HX-RS232...ref=pd_cp_pc_0

I highly recommend every FRC team buy something like this, for those just in case moments. If you already have a serial to usb interface from an arduino or other microcontroller those will work fine.

As alpha and beta testers we deliberately tried to crash the RoboRio, and having one of these handy, definitely saved our butts numerous times.

These cables and ATX fuses will become a prized commodity at competitions this year, trust me!

However, with that said, safemode on the RoboRio should help you recover 99% of the time without ever needing to use the serial interface

-Kevin