Are there any restrictions within rulebook?

[team2830prgrmr]

Hi guys, I was wondering if there were any rules in the rulebook restricting modifying the WPI library .VI's. I want to add a small delay to one...

[nekojess]

I'm not sure. They have no way to actually check, and in most situations you'd probably end up shooting yourself in the foot anyway.

But I'm certain there's a better way to do whatever you're attempting.

What are you trying to do?

[team2830prgrmr]

I'm trying to put a small delay within the camera loop, hopefully then it won't bog down the program as much. I've tested it already with scatter results (as we've never had time to debug the code with all components being used at once), but I've verified that the delay at least doesn't cause thermonuclear war. I just wanted to see if this was a legal change. I know that FRC is pretty open about software and I couldn't even find where it would be within the rules, I was just hoping someone could provide some insight for me.

[Kevin Sevcik]

There aren't any restrictions in the rules, as you can't actually modify anything that's fundamental to the correct operation of the control system. It's on your own head if you break something, obviously.

[team2830prgrmr]

Alright, thanks for clarifying!

[Greg McKaskle]

Actually, I suspect that you want to slow down the Vision Processing Loop. That isn't technically part of WPILib. It is part of the template and is cloned for each project you make.

If you are intending to make a change somewhere else and want advice or explanation, be more explicit and just ask.

But to the original question. WPILib is distributed in source form the allow for better debugging and understanding of how things work. If you are certain that there is an issue or something can be done better, you have the source. There are no rules against changing the code. But, the majority of teams who change it introduce more issues than they resolve. They change it before they know what they are changing.

Greg McKaskle