Thread: BasicX uP for next year
View Single Post
  #24   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 29-03-2003, 17:40
Marc P. Marc P. is offline
I fix stuff.
AKA: βetamarc
no team
  
Join Date: Jan 2002
Rookie Year: 1999
Location: Watertown, CT
Posts: 997
Marc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond reputeMarc P. has a reputation beyond repute
Send a message via AIM to Marc P.
Quote:
Originally posted by Joe Ross
Good analogy, but lets take it a step further. In the past 3 years, and especially this year, the mechanical rules have been relaxed a ton. The electronics rules have been relaxed slightly, by allowing the use of the custom circuit board, but the limitations they put on it make it much less useful then it could be.

Ultimately, what I would like to see is an interface to completely bypass IFI's microprocessor. That way, they can keep using the Stamp 2SX (or upgrade to a P) and many teams can continue to use it. Then, they provide a way for us to plug in our own microprocessor, of our choosing. It would need 8+ digital i/o and a serial port (and maybe some other stuff). If IFI were to use appropriate buffers, they would be easily able to tell if we blew up the robot controller, or whether it was their problem. This allows teams the flexibility to use a better microprocessor, or at least one that they are more familier with.

Now obviously this isn't an easy task, but I think the time would be much better spent then just changing the microprocessor, and keeping the black box attitude.

Just the ramblings of a wannabe EE
That would open up an entirely new can of worms to the FIRST community. I believe the PBasic language and Stamp IISX processor are in place to allow some degree of sophistication, while not making programming entirely difficult. If custom processor boards were allowed, there must be some standardization enforced, or what's to stop a team from showing up with a 3.06 ghz Pentium 4 based robot? Meanwhile a rookie team shows up using the standard Stamp... as far as autonomous mode goes, who has a distinct advantage? I think the limitations of PBasic inspire a certain sense of creativity in the programming, and is easy enough for rookie teams and new members to pick up and use right away.