[jacob_dilles]

Originally Posted by Kyle

I am not a programmer but could you explain why you would need to do that after Auto mode is over the robot is in driver mode and the only programing that you would need is what is need to run from the controller to the robot, right?


Just remember that i am not a programmer, I would just like to know why that would be needed. so please be nice if I sound really dumb.

I think what you’re trying to say that the driver code is not complex, or long, because it just takes the values from the joystick and sends them to the Victors.

Our driver code is both complex and long, and we go over it hours at a time trying to make it shorter, and it’s still huge. We use sensors to measure rotation and two direction acceleration, and make changes to the motor outputs based on where the robot is and where the operator wants the robot to be. And all of the arm controls, limits, etc take up space too.

The memory on the RC is limited to start with (a couple of KB). It doesn’t help that the chip was designed to run assembly and we compile C++ to it… C is a complicated high level language that uses lots of libraries that take space. Then IFs “default” code is a beast (its got to be compatible with every team), but you cant ditch it because they wont give you total control over the RC (it’s a boot loader, ugg). And some of our programming team members write crummy code. All and all, memory is precious, and the more the better.

I hope this answers your question, jsd

Originally Posted by jgannon

I would suggest a much simpler way of achieving the same results: optimize your code. It's free, and much less likely to malfunction. I truely doubt that you actually are going to run out of memory.

We work only on code every day for 6 weeks… we can do 80% of stuff with out a second program

Originally Posted by jgannon

I truely doubt that you actually are going to run out of memory.

I’m sorry if you doubt it, but I have run out of memory, and its not fun. Actually the first time it happened was in the pits, but I was writing sloppy code, so it is expected.

Originally Posted by jgannon

The first law of programming is that there are always ways of doing things quicker and in less space than you already are

Incase it wasn’t clear -- This was a theoretical question; the probability that I would implement it is very low. But when my team comes up with another page of stuff the robot is suppose to do by itself; I at least need a worst case scenario


Thanks though – jsd