Thread: Using a MacBook Air as a Driver Station
View Single Post
  #5   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 24-02-2016, 23:34
rponmalai's Avatar
rponmalai rponmalai is offline
UCI
AKA: Ravi Ponmalai
FRC #3476 (Code Orange)
Team Role: Mentor
  
Join Date: Feb 2012
Rookie Year: 2012
Location: Irvine, CA
Posts: 24
rponmalai is a glorious beacon of lightrponmalai is a glorious beacon of lightrponmalai is a glorious beacon of lightrponmalai is a glorious beacon of lightrponmalai is a glorious beacon of lightrponmalai is a glorious beacon of light
Re: Using a MacBook Air as a Driver Station
Code Orange ran a Macbook Air as our driver laptop for two years. From that time we learned a few things:
Things we liked :
  • The Air is very light and easy to transport. As the person on the drive team who had to carry the operator console, it was greatly appreciated.
  • The battery is fantastic. Even after having it for almost three years, the battery will still last all day.
Things to watch out for:
  • We were running Windows 7 and had some issues with the drivers for the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter. IIRC the thunderbolt drivers would occasionally blue screen the computer. This forced use to use a usb to ethernet adapter which resulted in us needing a usb hub as well. This issue may be different in Windows 10 so make sure to test it rigorously.
  • USB Hubs: If you are going to use more than one controller and a usb to ethernet adapter you are probably going to need a USB hub. If you use a USB hub you will want to stop Windows from shutting down the device. You can do this by going into device manager and changing the power management settings of your usb hub like this(that setting should be unchecked).
Reply With Quote