NI Week Athena Announcement and Q&A Panel

[Racer26]

Except roboRIO isn't used in the real world. Its a custom built solution just for FRC. That argument (kind of) worked with cRIO.

One of the biggest things about the real world is engineering within constraints. That used to be a part of the control system. Back in 2003, we only had 26 bytes of variable space. You had to be creative. I feel like cRIO and roboRIO as FRC control systems give too much power. I agree we needed more than the old IFI system was capable of, I just think cRIO was too big a leap, and roboRIO is that kind of leap again.

C is still the dominant language used in embedded applications, so I don't see that as a limit.

I honestly don't believe that teams being better today has much at all to do with the control system.

WPILib has had a profound impact on making it easier to program an FRC robot, and the sheer quantity of team growth means there are more smart people involved.

I would estimate though, that fewer than 1% of teams competing in 2013 did anything (except stream video to the DS) with the control system that wasn't possible in 2005. And those 1%? They're the ones with the resources to make maximal use of whatever system they're given.

A new control system should target rookie teams with simplicity, while being powerful enough that veterans can do some really cool stuff. Its a delicate balance to strike. I just feel that cRIO and to a greater extent roboRIO err too much on the side of raw power.

That said? I think roboRIO is a dramatic improvement to nearly all of cRIOs shortcomings as an FRC control system. (Footprint, weight, design, etc. Its just better).