[jdong]

I think you're not understanding: We're hooking up another COMPUTER to the controller via the serial port, NOT loading Linux onto a PIC18F -- I agree that's a hopeless attempt!


As far as advantages, I'm most interested in using real C/C++. I still cannot live with Microchip C, losing pieces of results while multiplying longs, and FP math is well desired for PID constants. I was considering a touchpad-driven robot navigation system also, which is impractical on the given micro.


I realize it's against the rules right now; I was asking that if anyone on the magical committee is listening, please consider allowing this setup next year!


It's not difficult either to transform a breaker panel output to a laptop-compatible voltage, if no "external power sources" are allowed.


P.S.:
Venkatesh: I've had a number of issues with the micro already this year, implementing closed-loop PID control on a few separate motors -- everything from garbled RAM to unfinished calculations.