[aaeamdar]

As many of you know, FIRST has released a program called "FMS Light" that is available for free download. This is essentially a downsized version of the program that is used to run the main FRC events. A quick description:

This program allows the user to:
Control robots w/o use of individual WRT610N's (only one is used)
Disable robots in the match
Pause match
Run audience display (the scorebar)
Play FIRST Sounds (start of match, 20 seconds left, end, etc)

This program does not (compared to FMS):
Generate schedule/print out reports
Store results/rankings
Pit display
Score controller interaction
Display Alliance selection/bracket screens
Team Displays*
E-Stop Buttons*
Team Lights*

*Planned to be implemented.

I'm putting this out there to A) encourage teams to check out and use FMS Light, which is a very useful piece of software, and B) tell you all that I am writing a "Helper Program" that will hopefully bridge the gap between FMS and FMS Light in that it will:

-Prompt you to input the correct teams into FMS Light
-Prompt you for the match results
-Store the match results on the computer
-Provide ranking lists for teams
-Generate an elimination schedule

Hopefully the Beta of this will be available soon - I plan to release it as an open-source project. An early version should be available in a few days. It is written in Java, so it will be safe and cross-platform-performing.

I will update this page with more information about the project as it becomes available.

Status:
5/15/09 - Project Started

-Paul Dennis