2004 Robot Controller

[Sachiel7]

Quote:
I'm not sure how this rumor got started (and I've seen it mentioned before in other threads), but the OI doesn't have a BASIC Stamp in it, and to my knowledge it never has. Think about it - why would they put a stamp in the OI? Stamps are considerably more expensive than other embedded processors, are a whole lot slower, and use a rather clumsy programming language.

The OI does indeed contain at least one basic stamp. The RC contains 3. If I remember correctly the OI contains more than one. There are (or were) a total of 9 stamps throughout the entire control system up until now. This information used to be posted on IFI's site under the 2003 RC page, but has been removed for 2004. I'm trying to find my old documentation where it shows a map of all the stamps.
I was just saying that the radio was an idea, I hadn't actually heard any talk of it. But the fact that the new eduRC doesn't run on 900MHz radio gave some speculation to people that they might be switching to something new. I personally think they'll stick with the current radios, and as you said, may increase the channels. Especially with the new number of teams this year.

Quote:
Page 10 of the 2004 Programming Reference Guide actually says that Process_Data_From_Master_uP() runs at 17ms on the EDUbot only. It specifically states that it still runs at 26ms on the real RC.

Thank you for clearing that up for me. I think that if any changes are made, that they'll speed up the feedback. The dashboard program is now uncontinued, so it makes one wonder if they're coming up with a new method of feedback, or if they're updating the dashboard software for the new system. Either way, I'd like to see more be done with feedback. I know last year we were working on a system of ultrasonic sensors, and we worked on a 3D program to run on the laptop we had. The program would take the ultrasonic feedback (among other sensors) and show the robots position on the field, as well as putting up transparent "walls" where it received feedback. It didn't get too far though, since the hardware didn't like if much. I think if IFI made things like that a little easier, It would be a good improvement.
I do like the OI as is...It just seems like some minor adjustments could be made.