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Posted by Joe Johnson.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.

Posted on 12/8/2000 10:05 AM MST



Hi all,

Is there any interest among the general FIRST population for a couple of auxilary sessions on the Friday before the kickoff?

FIRST has published their 'official' schedule.

The usual suspects are in the lineup (including the Rookie Camp that the Chief Delphi team has pulled together for a number of years now).

To my mind, there are 2 topics that could really used more thorough coverage.

Practical Robot Programming, and

Choose the Right Motor for the Job.

As to the first topic, this is tangentially covered by two topics that are already on the agenda: the Innovation First seminar and the Parallax seminar.

I have not attended either, but it is my understanding that the first one focuses more on the basics of wiring up your FIRST controller than on programming and that the second one focuses on PBASIC in the class room concepts.

What I am proposing are very practical issues like:
. feedback loops as means of obtaining smooth robot arm motion,
. the consequences of 16 bit unsigned math
. ways to conserve RAM and ROM space
. the dangers of Debug statements
. scaling potentiometer values
. scaling PWM output values
. 'MIN 0' and other useless statements
. timing issues -- ways to tell if you are close to the edge
. pot calibration and adjustment
. practical magic
. etc.

As to the motor selection seminar, FIRST this is a very important topic but it is not included in any of the FIRST seminars or other FIRST aids.

So...

Bottom line: If you are interested in either of these topics and would send someone to such a seminar, respond to the appropriate message below. If we there is enough interest, we will work on a place to have them. If not, we will not.

Joe J.