You know, I was just thinking that it would've been fun and rewarding if FIRST had challenged the community to come up with a control system--we're a big huge bunch of engineers and the like with tons of experience between ourselves with embedded programming, board design, experience hardening electronics to survive harsh environments, etc. I think that given the opportunity we could've come up with something absolutely wicked and cheap, too. While NI is an AMAZING company, and they make absolutely sweet products, part of the charm of the IFI system is that it was designed for FIRST. I feel like the community could have done an amazing job of that--then they could be manufactured and sold to teams at cost. Oh well--just...everybody remember this idea for 10 years down the road when we change systems again!
