2015 RoboRIO/Control System Feedback

[Sparkyshires]

The smartDashboard introduced an issue to our team. On the second final match on Galileo, the smart dashboard did not populate with the sendable Chooser we use to select our autonomous program. If we hadn't had some of the absolute best volunteers and tech guys I've seen in my entire time in FIRST helping me figure it out, our robot would have run an incorrect default autonomous and flipped over.

The fact that they took the digital input away from the driver station and put selecting something as undeniably important as selecting autonomous and put it something as shaky and unreliable as the SmartDashboard was, in my opinion, the worst move FIRST made this entire season.

Either bring the digital input on the driver station back or fix the SmartDashboard. And if the smartDashboard is fixed then make it easier to implement. I consider myself an experienced programmer, and if I was not able to figure it out to the extent that I was still having issues, then that means other teams were not afforded the luxury of selecting an autonomous before a match.

That is an issue.

I apologize if this sounds angry and emotional, and definitely biased. It is. As I said earlier I had to work through this issue in the finals on our division so it is quite near and dear to my heart.

P.S. Also shout out to the guy who was finally able to fix it! I'm afraid I didn't catch your name during it, but not only were you polite during that stressful period, but you were kind to me, told me what was wrong and how to fix it, and then took your time without me even asking to come back to the pits and fix it on our other computer. I cannot thank you enough.