USB and Mac Support for IFI FRC Controllers???

[RIgnazio]

I heard a rumor this past season that Innovation First, Inc. was going to convert FRC Controllers to USB data transfer. In doing this, it would enable the Mac to be able to hook up to the Robot Controller and download software. Anyone else hear this, because it would be awwweeessoommee!

EDIT: Innovation First, Inc. has denied my request for confirmation on this issue.

[mechanicalbrain]

Originally Posted by RIgnazio

I heard a rumor this past season that Innovation First, Inc. was going to convert FRC Controllers to USB data transfer. In doing this, it would enable the Mac to be able to hook up to the Robot Controller and download software. Anyone else hear this, because it would be awwweeessoommee!

Not just that but imagine the new joystick options.....
No i haven't heard that but i know allot of people want to see the IFI controllers USB enabled.

[RIgnazio]

Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain

Not just that but imagine the new joystick options.....

I'm not sure if the joysticks are going USB, because then we would be able to have unlimited awesomeness, but I was just talking about the Program port.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain

Not just that but imagine the new joystick options.....

That's quite another topic. To use a USB connection to the computer for programming, the RC would need to be a USB slave. That's pretty easy, and relatively cheap. To use USB joysticks would require 1) being a USB master, which is a bit more expensive in both parts and firmware, and 2) USB drivers for any joysticks to be connected.

A USB-to-serial converter can already let a Macintosh connect to a RC's program port, by the way. Making use of that connection is only a matter of software...

[Joe Matt]

USB would be awsome as less and less laptops are supporting the parallel ports, and it even opens the possibility of having those sub-compact notebooks to program on (and yes, Macs!)

I wouldn't be surprised if IFI is working on a new product using USB, but I have no insider information.

[phrontist]

I will bet actual money this doesn't happen. Serial port based PIC programming has been around as long as PICs have, and to my knowledge no microcontroller out there doesn't use some form of it. None, to my knowledge, use USB. Why bother? It would be much easier to include a serial->usb converter in next year's kit.

[RIgnazio]

Originally Posted by phrontist

I will bet actual money this doesn't happen. Serial port based PIC programming has been around as long as PICs have, and to my knowledge no microcontroller out there doesn't use some form of it. None, to my knowledge, use USB. Why bother? It would be much easier to include a serial->usb converter in next year's kit.

And what about the Mac part of the rumor?

[BrianBSL]

I would imagine, if the RC were to have a usb port right on it, it would have a USB to serial chip right on the board. By providing their own converter either on the board or in the kit, they can control the parts that are used, only have to worry about 1 driver, and ensure that speed is acceptable. We have noticed problems using usb to serial converters and that some take significantly longer to program the RC than a real hardware serial port.

Also, there are several PIC's that have USB capabilities, although I am unsure if they allow in-circuit programming over USB.

[RIgnazio]

OK, this is going to seem a little dumb, but define 'PIC'.

[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by RIgnazio

OK, this is going to seem a little dumb, but define 'PIC'.

PIC stands for Peripheral Interface Controller. We have two PIC18F8520 chips in the RC controller from IFI. One is user programmable and is what we are changing when we download HEX file programs on our robots.

Regards,

Mike

[dlavery]

Tony Norman is sitting next to me right now, and upon reading this message made the following comment: "Not this year. This is in the list of 'highly desireable items' for future development, but it won't be tackled until the next development cycle."

Rumor killed.

-dave

[Andrew Blair]

huh, guess I don't know, if it is an acronym. Its the main (only?) series of microchip microcontrollers though, two of which happen to be onboard our controller.

And by the way, this has been mentioned before, but with a little work and a usb stick that uses 100k pots, you can quite easily convert a usb joystick to serial. With a certain limit on buttons/axis's obviously though that usb doesn't have. but who needs 10 buttons and a pov on 1 joystick for driving a robot?

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Tony Norman is sitting next to me right now, and upon reading this message made the following comment: "Not this year. This is in the list of 'highly desireable items' for future development, but it won't be tackled until the next development cycle."

Rumor killed.

-dave

Good to know it's on the list of things to do, although not surprising it won't happen next year.

BTW, is your car still in Dayton?

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by JosephM

Good to know it's in development, although not surprising it won't happen next year.

BTW, is your car still in Dayton?

It is important to read carefully, and parse the statement with equal attention. Note that he did NOT say that it "was in development" - he said it was "on the list" of "desireable items for future development." There is a very big difference. In other words, it is being considered for development - but development is not guaranteed, and they won't even start to look at it until later (e.g. after this year). Be careful not to read too much into the statement. You are making conclusions about information that just isn't there.

-dave

p.s. the van is (finally!) back from Dayton - two and a half weeks and three transmissions later!

[RIgnazio]

Well, thanks for clearing that up Dave. Atleast they are talking about doing it someday...