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Unread 01-01-2008, 11:36
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Alan Anderson Alan Anderson is offline
Software Architect
FRC #0045 (TechnoKats)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Rookie Year: 2004
Location: Kokomo, Indiana
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Re: Open-source FRC code

Quote:
Originally Posted by JBotAlan View Post
Actually, technically by last year's rules, using last year's code, even if widely published, is *not* legal. Per section 8.3.3 of "The Robot", "the schedule rules apply to both hardware and software development." Per rule <R17>, "absolutely no fabrication or assembly of any elements intended for the final ROBOT is permitted prior to the Kick-off presentation." These two rules combined mean that we cannot use any pre-kickoff code on our robot.
The rules permit COTS assemblies to be used. That applies to hardware in an obvious way, but it can be (and has been) interpreted to let teams use prewritten software from a source like IFI or Kevin Watson.

Quote:
Originally Posted by trekkiencc74656 View Post
If we dont know what the rules are yet then why cant we at least write drive code and build the drive train as these are standard between years and should have no effect on the outcome of the match. I mean most teams ours included reuse code from the year before and start working on it prior to the kickoff.
I would hope that most teams actually followed the rules and did not use code that they developed before the kickoff. I know that several teams with a reputation for strong software skills had to make an extra effort last year to rewrite functions that they could have copied directly from their code archives.