View Single Post
  #10   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 02-08-2015, 16:54
TheHolyHades1 TheHolyHades1 is offline
Registered User
no team
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Rookie Year: 2010
Location: usa
Posts: 145
TheHolyHades1 is a jewel in the roughTheHolyHades1 is a jewel in the roughTheHolyHades1 is a jewel in the rough
Re: Programming for TalonSRX without RoboRIO?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg McKaskle View Post
NI writes the code, but it is FIRST's call as to whether something is released or not. If it doesn't affect safety, it is generally fair game -- like the implementations of WPILib and NetworkTables. If a modification to a library, to the FPGA, or to the DS, causes a team to lose control of a robot, that could be a pretty bad thing. So, some libraries are considered a part of the safety system and are kept closed.

While reverse engineering is a great skill to work on and can be fun and productive, I would not suggest it for the CAN motor controllers used in FRC. My suggestion is still to get in touch with CTRE, get their firmware package that is already written for nonFRC applications, and use that for offseason projects that do not use a roboRIO. If you then want to use the motor controllers for FRC again, reimage them.

What part of the DS protocol or source were you interested in? I don't remember this coming up.

Greg McKaskle
I emailed CTRE on Friday, and got a response very quickly after that. I have since gotten a copy of their non-FRC firmware, which I will be flashing to the Talons soon, as well as a good bit of information on the protocol. Overall, CTRE (Omar specifically) has been very helpful. Seems like an awesome company.