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By puting a phototransistor over the Basic Run LED, we were able to get direct serial output from the Stamp to our external microcontroller at 19.2Kb/s. THIS is the idea that we figured few, if any, other teams have thought of. We were hoping it might be a good way to earn an "innovation" and/or "creative solutions" award.
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Us too!

When encountered with the programming bottleneck, I explained to one of the programmers that the only valid I/O from the robot controller that we could use this year were the Analog and Digitial I/O ports.
"That's it?" they asked. I mentioned in passing that the only other thing directly connected to the stamp is the Run LED. Our programming team had just finished a review of this year's default code, and many of them remembered the "Toggle 7" line. Then one kid piped up, "Couldn't we do something like morse code on that LED and use one of those Banner light sensors?"
One of the negineers present immediately saw an even better solution: using a cheap $1 photoresistor (in place of the Banner sensor) hooked up to the offboard microprocessor. You chould just SEROUT on the LED.
While I can't say our team progressed as far as you did (by the time we had received the parts to assemble our circuit, the team update in question was already released), I'm sure the idea has occured to other teams as well. Anyone with a good familiarity with the code would know about the direct connections to and from the Stamp itself, including the Basic Run LED.
I can see both sides of the argument quite clearly. We were quite excited at having "invented" this new approach as well, and our team captain was basically jumping up and down, yelling "design award, design award!" I could see how if soemone poured all the work that you team did into perfecting that design, they would be irked at a change such as the programming port.
Yet, I also see the other side of the argument. Many teams, ours included, are grateful that FIRST allowed the use of the programming port. It is faster, more reliably, and a logical choice for doing I/O off the roboto controller. This whole thread was probably just stirred feelings unintentionally, since they did not know how much work you put into your project.
However, I must add that your tone leaves much to be desired.
"If you win some award for it and don't specify that WE gave you the idea, we will personally hunt you down for claiming credit for our idea." is not exactly gracious or professional. Other teams that had this idea may even feel threatened to submit it for a design award under their own name, even if they did all the research and implementation of it independent of your team.