[EricH]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

The innovation in controls award is not programming specific. Many teams have won it for their hardware controls and things like heads-up displays, specialized interfaces (like a representational arm) and integration with sensors for field position controls. And while all of these include a programming aspect, the award is not programming specific.

So please, again, tell me what award is programming specific?

Without the hardware, the code is useless. Tell me, programmers, could you do as well if you didn't have the pots, input devices, encoders, ultrasonics, HUDs, and other cool gadgets and only had timers? I doubt it! How many teams have had a seeming code failure, only to discover a bad [insert sensor here]?

And the hardware needs code to work right. Sure, it's good for producing smoke, or baffling the freshmen, or giving practice in some electronics stuff, without it, but I'm sure that that isn't what teams want.

So the hardware is integral to the software's success. Innovation in Control is therefore rewarding both parts; the hardware that allows the code to work right and the software (code) that makes sure the hardware does what it is supposed to. As such, it is not pure programming; nor is it pure hardware. It celebrates the mixture of the two.