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Unread 19-12-2010, 23:25
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Oregon State Head FTA
AKA: Chris
no team (Oregon Robotics Tournament & Outreach Program)
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Rookie Year: 1998
Location: Oregon
Posts: 142
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Re: [FTC]: Samantha? Like it or hate it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by PSHRobotics View Post
Are the FTA's allowed to change the initial configuration file that is put on the samantha during inspection? When my team was inspected (one of the first teams), the USB drive was taken out what looked like official packaging.

All of the FTAs have to setup their own router. Most will likely follow the official FIRST instructions, which use FTC_FIELD and FTC_PIT, (with a site chosen PW on FTC_FIELD). The USB drives used by the inspectors are created by the local FTA. I'm the head Oregon FTA, so thankfully I don't have to run any competitions until the end of January.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PSHRobotics View Post
Yesterday we had multiple disconnections during matches (even finals) at the NJ Frozen Frenzy Qualifier. This wouldn't be so much of a worry if it was just miscommunication between Samantha FCS people and the teams. That could be solved. But what usually happened was completely unexplained disconnections - sometimes making the NXT freeze up while driving and burn out the motors, sometimes just not running at all, sometimes shutting some teams off while other teams run and then turning them all back on. It just seems like Samantha is still in the testing phase. Or, at least, if they have figured out these problems, they haven't made it clear how to diagnose and fix them. I'm glad they're taking initiative - but I think switching over while Samantha still has some bugs is a bad idea.
Of course, I'm probably just bitter. I'd be a lot more open to it if it didn't cost my team 60 bucks every time we burn out our motors.

See, this is partly due to a stupid bug in the FIRST teleop template (at least the RobotC one.) If communication is lost between to the brick, the robot keeps receiving the same joystick values it had been. Therefore, if you had been driving forward, your robot would keep driving until someone physically turns off the power. This can actually be tested under direct USB tether. Just drive the robot forward, and then yank the usb cable. I started coding a fix, but I need to send it off to FIRST so they can include it in next years competition. If someone knows if this applies to LabView as well, it would be appreciated.
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