Thread: Innovation First is accepting pre-orders for the Control System
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Unread 06-23-2002, 10:19 PM
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#0047 (ChiefDelphi)
  
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Re: So the question for FIRST is..
Posted by Eric Rasmussen.

Engineer from FIRST.

Posted on 12/28/99 12:50 PM MST


In Reply to: So the question for FIRST is.. posted by Raul on 12/28/99 6:54 AM MST:



Hi Raul.

All teams will get a new control system each year as part of the kit. This will be covered by the registration fee and will not be optional. There are three basic reasons for this plan. 1) It allows teams to plan in advance for the cost of registration whether or not the control system is upgraded in the future. 2) It increases reliability by not having used parts on the robots. 3) It helps Innovation First stay in business, which benefits the entire FIRST community.

I cannot predict the future of the control systems, but it is likely that the design will continue to evolve. If and when a further evolution occurs, Innovation First may or may not (I can't commit to this for them) come out with firmware upgrades for the controllers to allow teams to upgrade their systems.

There are several basic reasons I can envision for a team to purchase spare systems: 1) To refit older robots, 2) To help train team members, 3) To provide additional prototyping bandwidth, 4) To start an educational curriculum, or 5) To host a robotics competition. These reasons are only partially dependant on whether or not there is an evolution in the future.

Think of it as follows: Purchasing a spare system is just like purchasing a computer. You know it will be 'useful' for a few years, and will probably run the same old programs for years and years, but it may not be fully compatible with the new things that come out. It is hard to be 'forward compatible' for very long.

-Eric Rasmussen
FIRST

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