GPD Win for demo robot driver station

[lundeby]

We have a T-shirt shooting robot and some other robots from prior seasons that we use for marketing the team. Our normal driver station is a bit large for convenience when there is no surface to place the driver station. We've been looking for some type of portable solution.

I just found this device:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C51mkucrnc

Has anyone given that device a try for running the driver station software? BTW, even if it works, I get a bit nervous about that GPD Win device getting dropped or walking off. But, if it worked, it would match our needs.


Does anyone have any other suggestions for a very portable driver station? Some sort of portable display & handheld controller is wanted. It would be possible to attach a handheld controller to a small display and run cables to a small PC in a backpack.

I know some people have looked at Raspberry Pi running Linux. Ideally we would stick with Windows for simplicity.

Thanks,
Bruce


Thanks,
Bruce

[mman1506]

Personally I would swap out the control system for a R/C radio like this one. No boot up times, it's super portable, inexpensive and durable. You can use this relay to trigger the solenoid. It's the same system most battlebots use.

[Bkeeneykid]

The GPD Win certainly seems like an interesting option if you want to stick with windows, but I'm not sure it's as hard as you're making it out to be. The absolutely wonderful QDrvierStation works great, even on a raspberry pi (or so I'm told). Add a little battery and a battery protector board and you'll be great. You could even 3D print a cute little case and cannibalize an older screen and a joystick for it.

If you have your heart set on windows, I think the GPD might be your best bet in this case. Another member of F4 3D printed side controllers to go around his Suface tablet very similarly to the Razer Edge Pro, but that's quite a janky solution, I would not trust that several hundred device to my own 3D prints, even with my crappy printer. If you use anything other than the default dashboard, including Smart Dashboard or the LabView Dashboard, you will not be able to see that reasonably. The ability to hit the enter button in case of emergency also might be an issue, but you'd just have to get a feel for that. I would guess that the built in joystick would just register as USB internally, but I would ask the manufacturer before hand. Also, I'd hope you can operate all the functions of this yourself, otherwise having another joystick connected to it could be a pain.

Anyway, food for thought, and I think this could turn out well if you consider your options.

[snekiam]

I know its already been mentioned, but qdriverstation can be run on an android phone also - this may be your best bet for a portable driverstation using the FRC control system.

[EmileH]

Originally Posted by mman1506

Personally I would swap out the control system for a R/C radio like this one. No boot up times, it's super portable, inexpensive and durable. You can use this relay to trigger the solenoid. It's the same system most battlebots use.

Have you seen andymark's cheap and dirty control system? It has the transmitter plus all the other peripherals for electronics (fuse block, etc.)

[rlounds]

Originally Posted by lundeby

I know some people have looked at Raspberry Pi running Linux. Ideally we would stick with Windows for simplicity.

The Raspberry Pi 2/3 can run a core version of Windows 10 if you're interested. I would recommend the Pi 3 due to it's integrated WiFi and I'm almost certain is can run the DriverStation software.