[RyanCahoon]

Originally Posted by biojae

Well, does the lantronix xport have an output saying if an ethernet cord is plugged in?

According to the datasheet on the Lantronix website, yes.

Originally Posted by biojae

if so, then the board could dedicate all processing time to the parsing of dashboard data and ignore the touchscreen
(it would still get power from the DS though and the oled screen would be showing the data)
or it could send the commands for auto then switch to a dashboard display and disable the touchscreen, the dashboard data has the game mode in it right?

I'm still a little fuzzy on how you're planning on sending the data entered onto the touchscreen to the robot. If you're planning on sending it through the inputs on the DS, then yes you should be able to detect the game mode through the dashboard ethernet port and send the data at the appropriate times. My previously stated concern over the legality of having something attached as both a dashboard and controller would then still apply; not to overly discourage you.

Just to clarify, though, you won't be able to send data back to the robot through the dashboard ethernet port (based on this year's rules/field setup), as the DS blocks all traffic besides the dashboard packets coming from the robot when it is in competition mode.

I would also warn against trying to draw power from the DS. According to the information provided in the control system manual, the DS is only rated for 900 mA, total system current. I don't know what the exact specification on the exposed power pins are, but I'd be surprised if you could draw much more than 150 mA, since they're intended to be used primarily for pullup sources or similar. That may be enough to power a microcontroller by itself, but the driver for your display alone is going to draw considerably more than that.

--Ryan