Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday
All that says is that it can't be powered externally. It is quite possible to run a microcontroller off of the power available on the joystick port; we did it successfully this year.
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<R83> All equipment connected to the joystick ports of the Operator Interface must be powered solely through the power available through the port.
External power sources of any type are not permitted on any equipment connected to the joystick ports.
Portable computing devices can not be connected to joystick input ports on the Operator Interface. Powerpassive devices (e.g. joysticks that draw their power solely through the Operator Interface joystick port) are permitted. The one exception to this rule is Innovation First Incorporated USB adapters (IFI Part Number USB-CHICKLET) may be used to connect USB devices to the joystick ports of the Operator Interface. If used, this USB adapter must be powered with a 7.2V battery similar to the back-up battery. Teams can not use power from the competition port or any other source to power the USB adapter. The USB adapter must be positioned within the OPERATOR CONSOLE so that the indicator lights may be seen during inspection and operation in a match.
So yeah, the processor would have to accept the power from the joystick port, and so would the glove (which is USB complient.. a lot of power). Also, I think the processor would be considered as a Portable Computing Device.
Although, perhaps an exception could be made with the GDC for this device in particular. Kind of like DDR pads don't officially follow the rules, the GDC has allowed them. I think the intent of this rule is to prevent you from plugging in a computational aid into the joystick ports to run your bot (like somthing plugged into your dashboard that is getting real-time info, or a laptop that can tell the robot what the best place to score is, etc.)
Jacob