971's Control System

[tStano]

This sounds really cool, and it is very interesting to me, but due to the small issue of me still being in high school, I am very confused on many things. I tried wikipedia, but its not being of a whole lot of help. I'm not attacking you for being too technical, I just would like to understand. So, heres some really dumb questions.

What is state control, and how does it replace PID? The wiki said that it involves a thing with a small number of states. I don't understand how "position" and its derivatives can be "states". It seems to me that each one of those could have near infinite states.

I don't understand network protocols, could you explain in further detail, how that works between cRio and BBB?

The digital hall effect sensors, for how long do they output "Seen a magnet"?; I suppose I'm asking their sensitivity.

Does your assumption of an ideal motor cause problems? Also, can I get an explanation of that math in more layman's terms? I haven't taken calc yet, but I have a basic idea of what like integrals and derivatives are.

Thank you so much! Or if its too much trouble, let me know, and I'll do some more research.