Not that I am Tony's spokesman or anything...
Yes, the controllers are different. Innovation First provides
upgrades here.. A 2002 controller had to be upgraded in order to operate for the 2003 game.
We did this for our 2002 controller, but I don't know the specifics of what part of the program needed to be upgraded. I think that it was a combination of the autonomous mode addition in 2003 and how the field controllers interfaced with the robots during this time.
Anyway... yes... all of those 2002 controllers (robot and operator) needed to be updated if they were going to be used for the 2003 game.
Andy B.