Einstein 2012

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by AlecMataloni

I remember watching them shaking their heads in disgust.

Dean was right up at the edge of the field at times, which I don't think he usually does... also, Woodie seemed really rattled when he was announcing one of the awards (can't remember which one).

[Anupam Goli]

Woodie seemed to be sweating a lot and his hair was messed up, and he shook a lot during one of those presentations... they had a lot of stress. The best thing we can do is stand behind them and hope they resolve it.

[DominickC]

Unfortunately, this FIRST season has had a large spike in issues with the FMS at Regionals, and made it's way up to Einstein, delivering a coup-de-gras to the 2012 season. Does anyone else sense major change in the year(s) to come?

I've been using some of the 2000 FRC IFI Control Systems, and I've got to say, they are near bullet proof when they work.

It's very disappointing to see issues like this. I bet that every single team, winner or not, feels cheated out of a fair shot at the Championship. All of the teams were capable of winning, bar any FMS issues.

[shawnz]

To all those pointing out the reliability of the IFI control system: remember that it was much simpler tech and teams were asking much less of their robots back then (e.g. video streaming).

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

They should have moved to Galileo field after the first replay.

Just wondering but why Galileo? I've seen a few people mention that field as an alternative.

[DominickC]

Originally Posted by shawnz

To all those pointing out the reliability of the IFI control system: remember that it was much simpler tech and teams were asking much less of their robots back then (e.g. video streaming).

You are 100% spot on. It just strikes me as odd how you can have advanced capabilities, or you can have nearly flawless reliability.

Does anyone know why "Code Bonde" was not put in place?

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by Gregor01

Just wondering but why Galileo? I've seen a few people mention that field as an alternative.

Galileo had the least amount of comm issues form what I've heard.

[dag0620]

Originally Posted by Gregor01

Just wondering but why Galileo? I've seen a few people mention that field as an alternative.

Also it was the field closest to Einstein, so it would make sense to go their first.

[EagleEngineer]

One simple way to keep it fair on einstein, is maybe for next year, if a robot is not moving or has connection issues, they should replay the match (until the issues are fixed). I understand that they replayed the Semis, but the same thing happened in the replayed matches. Another thing maybe is to test out the einstein field with real robots before the actual semis happen, (maybe they did its just a suggestion). Anyway this even though this happened this is a good thing, because there is a good chance that there will be improvements to connectivity and the feild, next year.

[DominickC]

If they had replayed every match in which a robot was incapacitated for any length of time, I'd be willing to bet we'd still be watching. A new protocol for dealing with these issues should be put in place. The "it's a problem with your robot" explanation isn't sitting well with anyone. This holds true for Regionals and CMP.

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by DominickC

If they had replayed every match in which a robot was incapacitated for any length of time, I'd be willing to bet we'd still be watching. A new protocol for dealing with these issues should be put in place. The "it's a problem with your robot" explanation isn't sitting well with anyone. This holds true for Regionals and CMP.

Problem is, it is the robot a lot of the time, or it's the connection between FMS and robot. The FMS rarely bugs out, and usually the wifi is pretty solid. I can't speak for 09 or 10 too much, but the D Links take a lot longer to boot up and seem to brick easily. My team has already been through 2.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by shawnz

To all those pointing out the reliability of the IFI control system: remember that it was much simpler tech and teams were asking much less of their robots back then (e.g. video streaming).

We didn't ask the robots to do video streaming because we knew the hardware couldn't handle it.

The IFI system, if the OI was upgraded to USB, would have been pretty solid for another couple of years (the Flightsticks were getting to be a pain to hook up). Beyond that, it would have needed a major overhaul, which IFI could probably have done just fine. That system could start in seconds, run just about everything needed with 99% reliability if you didn't accidentally get something unplugged (and the 1% typically resulted in a foghorn), and repeat that for a full season.

I think if IFI had been given a chance, they could have certainly risen to the occasion with a higher-performance system.

[DominickC]

@EricH - As it stands, the IFI system is perfect for running nearly any robotics project that you might want to do. Granted the serial interface is a pain, it's still a fully functional and robust microprocessor. While it won't do what we ask of our cRIO's today, it's earned my respect.

What about the use of an Arduino or similar type microprocessor?

[Donovan0217]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

They should have moved to Galileo field after the first replay.

They really couldn't have moved, by the time the matches had even started all of the other fields were torn down.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by bduddy

Dean was right up at the edge of the field at times, which I don't think he usually does... also, Woodie seemed really rattled when he was announcing one of the awards (can't remember which one).

Dean walked through the camera frame visibly shaking his head while Woodie was presenting one of the awards. Dean usually crouches next to the field when he watches matches (one of the benefits of founding the competition I suppose), but he was clearly not having a great time.

I am sure they are just as upset about this, and probably more, than most of the people here. No doubt what happened this weekend will be extensively discussed at FIRST HQ in the coming months.

For those of you that were there, did the non-moving robots suck the energy out of the competition?