Bluetooth At Events

[mesamb1]

My mistake EricH,
However further investigation on wikipedia/bing reveals that bluetooth sends data on the 2.4 GHz bandwidth. Still, OP, you should post this on the FIRST forums for a GDC member to answer with an official verdict because there is some gray area

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by mesamb1

My mistake EricH,
However further investigation on wikipedia/bing reveals that bluetooth sends data on the 2.4 GHz bandwidth. Still, OP, you should post this on the FIRST forums for a GDC member to answer with an official verdict because there is some gray area

The practical answer is that firstly, the Q&A is inactive between seasons so no ruling will be forthcoming (until the next set of rules are in force), and secondly, the rule is clear as is, so interpretation isn't really needed. There's no interpretation of "802.11a/b/g/n (2.4GHz or 5GHz) wireless communication (access points or ad-hoc networks)" that includes Bluetooth.

Legalistically, the robot rules only really make sense if they apply strictly to the robot (and its control system)—so unless FIRST says otherwise, don't worry about <R79> unless your controls are configured to speak Bluetooth. And even if you could get an answer, the Q&A is supposed to clarify rather than add new things to rules—so unless FIRST changes that for 2012, expect that an official will give you the benefit of the doubt if you're clearly following the rules, even despite a Q&A response to the contrary.

The technical answer follows from references like these: HP, Cisco, a trade magazine.

Originally Posted by HP

Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth fail gracefully in the presence of interference. By this is meant that the communication protocols are very robust and include mechanisms for error checking and correcting, as well as requesting that corrupted packets be resent. Therefore the result of increasing levels of interference is almost always confined to a slowing of the data rate as more packets need to be resent. Only in extreme conditions, such as setting a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone down next to an operating microwave oven, is it likely that communications will cease altogether.