Thread: **FIRST EMAIL**/Looking for Beta Test Teams
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Unread 18-08-2009, 16:05
Jared Russell's Avatar
Jared Russell Jared Russell is offline
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FRC #0254 (The Cheesy Poofs), FRC #0341 (Miss Daisy)
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Re: **FIRST EMAIL**/Looking for Beta Test Teams
I contend that the beta test teams did not have a significant leg up over anybody else. I cite the following reasons:

1. Early on, the beta test teams were working with buggy hardware and software. Many of the things they learned about the nuances of the early control system and API had to be unlearned as updates were made available.

2. The beta test teams did not just get to play with their system for pre-season code prototyping. They had to fulfill specific objectives as a condition of their participation in the beta testing program. Much of their work in these areas was not even used this season (e.g. both 330 and 1114 demonstrated camera tracking code, but neither one wound up using tracking on their Lunacy bots).

3. All of the findings, code, and lessons learned from the beta test teams were made available to all FRC teams. For example, team 103 brought their beta control system to our off season event Ramp Riot, where they gave a presentation and answered questions from a live audience of 100 and an even larger online audience. Before kickoff, I already knew the WPILib API like the back of my hand from diligent studying.

4. The teams selected had the least to gain through early exposure to the cRIO. The programmers and mentors of these elite teams would have very quickly reached an expert level either during or immediately before build season (recall that many teams who were not beta testers still got their control systems early). If you take an experienced software engineer and give him the WPILib API spec, he could crank out good software in a matter of a few days if not hours. We're not solving NP Complete problems in FIRST, folks.

In short, I urge those who criticize the beta testing program or the team selection criteria used by FIRST/NI to see the program in a different light. It was not designed to give any particular team an advantage. It was designed to quickly find and fix bugs and to spread introductory cRIO knowledge to all of FIRST. The teams that were chosen had excellent histories of both technical accomplishment and community mentorship.

We all benefited from their experiences.
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