New Java (and C++) features for 2012

[RoboRealm]

Just to follow up on a point regarding transmitting video back from the bot to the driver station:

Watch out for the delay in reality caused by the transmission of video across a wireless network. You can certainly get 30fps on a wireless transmission but the issue is that any image you get and process can be delayed by a second or more from what is actually happening in the bot. While this does not sound like much of a delay, if you are targeting something visually (like the hoops) the robot will tend to oscillate quite a bit if this delay is significant. This oscillation is caused by the closed loop delay of the video. In other words, once you process the second or more delayed image the bot will have moved beyond what you are currently processing, sending back the commands to correct for this delayed image will than cause the bot to overshoot and then overcompensate.

The best way to remove this is to reduce the frame size so that the IP camera does not take as long to compress the image and the wireless transmission is faster and closer to reality ... or slow the adjustments of the bot way down (i.e. make slower movements) or put a laptop/netbook on the PC which will remove this transmission delay.

This is a common problem with wireless transmissions and is only made worse by more people/bots using the network so look for that at the competition when more bots are streaming video back to the control station.

Lastly (hopefully this is not viewed as spam) RoboRealm is now donating copies to teams that what to use it.

Cheers,
STeven.