[Gdeaver]

There have been 2 programming challenges that have shone the value of LABVEIW this year. First, we decided to try filtering the joystick values to limit acceleration with out any sensor input. After, thrashing about trying to write a VI to do this, our programmer and mentor found several built in VI's that could be used to do this. Being able to graphical see the out put of the filters really helped to zoom in on the best candidates. The speed with witch changes can be made is outstanding. It would take a seasoned C++ veteran to have gone thru all the options we did in about 3 hours. The built in VI filters are tunable. This past Saturday the robot was ready to drive and it's amazing how fast changes can be made. The second task that made me become a LABVEIW believer was our testing of a Sharp ID distance senor to try and get better ranging on the PVC pipe trailer pipe than the camera. Our programmer whipped up a VI for testing in minutes. Once again the graphical feed back is very important. Our team has chronically had problems tackling any thing the least bit complicated in programming. This year is different. Things are happening. Labview is a great big tool box. I don't care about proprietary software. Does it get the job done?