Quote:
Originally Posted by thatguy
gblake how does the new platform compare to the Vex one?
I was only able to catch a few minutes of the webcast match 
Anyways, how easy was it to develop a working robot with an arm and it seems as if you can use a bluetooth playstation controller? If so and you did use one, is it fun to use? |
They are different:
The new kit is not a "better" kit. It is a
different kit.
I and some of the other participants will need to collect our thoghts (now that we can reflect on the experience, instead of spending our time scrambling to try to puzzle out how to best use the parts FIRST gathered together to make the kits. That will take a little time.
The Vex product line is fairly well integrated into a unified offering. Sometimes when trying to solve a "game" problem, this can lead you to wonder if a different vendor makes a better mouse trap.
In the new kit, in addition to the obvious impications of including snap-together LEGO plastic parts in the kits, the version of the new FTC kit we used seems more like a mixture of several similar, but not the same, different part styles. Diversity can create strength; but it also created frustration when we had to try to blend those philosphies in a single machine.
The Vex system has considerable openness (the VexLabs fora frequently discuss how to integrate non-Vex sensors, motor controllers, etc.) with the Vex Microcontroller.
I am still fairly unfamiliar with interfaces the LEGO microcontroller exposes, but I think that they implent IC2 communication interfaces. Given that, I presume that one can find sensors or other devices that use IC2 and can write or buy communication software/drivers that can run in the LEGO NXT computer.
Attention to mechanical details has resulted in being able to easily mate almost every Vex part with other Vex parts.
Some of the new kit's parts just do not yet connect easily with others (at least if you are asking me to figure out how to connect them). Attaching a rotating part (a gear on an axle) to a stationary part was a partucularly onerous chore.
"How easy was it to develop a working robot?" At this stage of the kit's lifespan, it was not easy. The mechanics were often odd and clunky. In general, the software support still needs quite a bit of work (the vendor reps were quite helpful and generous; but the product(s) simply are not yet mature enough for release to the general-public).
Putting "Arms" on Vex bots is a challenge because the Vex Servos just don't put out much torque compared to the weight of the larger Vex steel parts; and the Vex aluminum parts are only sold in bundles (and I don't want to pay for bundled parts I am unlikely to ever use.
Putting an arm on the new FTC kits was pretty easy. The aluminum is light, the servos are strong and the LynxMotion-style parts are expecitly designed for that sort of thing.
Yes - With the right software drivers you could use a bluetooth Playstation controller. Was using the Logitech handheld remote controller (plugged into a computer that handled the bluetooth protocol and had a bluetooth dongle installed) fun? Not so much. Video game objects respond well to Playstation/xBox, etc. handhelds because software developers spend hours and hours tuning the conversions of user actions into game actions. Doing that for any realworld object is is not going to work any better than using something like a Vex transmitter if the software involved doesn't get tuned to match that realworld object's behavior. An FTC robot is a collection of realworld objects.
Blake