Programming Help

[anupalsingh]

i've heard that theres a software out there that makes the codin of the robot for u. For example: if u move the robot forward, it records it and makes the program for u and then all we have to do is copy paste the coding.

does anyone know if there is such a thing guy my programmin team really is running out of time and dont no much right now?

[deltacoder1020]

you might be referring to the previous years' program CopyCat, which was designed by some team (forget which), and recorded a sequence of moves, then playing them back.... don't know if there's something like that this year.

[Astronouth7303]

I believe there is, but it's really deep. Search for CopyCat.

[Jeff McCune]

I've never used CopyCat, but if it assumes the robot controller of past years, it'll be useless for this years robot since it's a completely different programming language.

It sorta irritates me that the First community continually gives less respect to the software engineering aspect of the project and more respect to the mechanical engineering aspects of the project. Remember that what seperates a robot from a glorified radio controlled car is the fact that you have to engineer it to be autonomous.

In the past, many teams programmed nothing and simply used the default code. The addition of autonomous mode was a huge step in the right direction, but I still think the community is doing a lot of hand-holding in this area. Case in point would be the navigation code that's been written that allows teams to navigate to the IR beacon with no programming. That's pretty disheartening.

Just my $0.02.

[deltacoder1020]

I'd tend to agree (doesn't hurt that I'm a programmer ) - as it is, FIRST is more "For Inspiration of Radio-Controlled Cars and Technology". Yes, remotely controlled devices can be referred to as "robotic", but I think it would be nicer if more emphasis were put on autonomous operation.

[Ryan M.]

The robot is great, but the fact that is only contolled by a human is what makes it special. I've always been interested in robotics and have read a lot about then and built two small ones. (Not that they were very good ) When I first heard about FIRST, I thought, "That's not real robotics, they are remote controlled." I found out later that there is autonomous time, but the point is still the same. At least in my mind, a robot is a robot because it can function on its own.

Like DeltaCoder said, it helps that I'm a programmer.

Helping a team out who isn't so good at programming is ok, but giving them the code doesn't help them learn how to do it next time.

[deltacoder1020]

Originally Posted by Texan

The robot is great, but the fact that is only contolled by a human is what makes it special. I've always been interested in robotics and have read a lot about then and built two small ones. (Not that they were very good ) When I first heard about FIRST, I thought, "That's not real robotics, they are remote controlled." I found out later that there is autonomous time, but the point is still the same. At least in my mind, a robot is a robot because it can function on its own.

Like DeltaCoder said, it helps that I'm a programmer.

Helping a team out who isn't so good at programming is ok, but giving them the code doesn't help them learn how to do it next time.

hence the reason why I refuse to straight out write code for another team, beyond modular things like a lookup table example. I'll debug code, and rewrite a few lines so it works better, and I'll give examples with pseudocode, but I don't write an entire program for someone.

[Kris Verdeyen]

Originally Posted by Jeff McCune

In the past, many teams programmed nothing and simply used the default code. The addition of autonomous mode was a huge step in the right direction, but I still think the community is doing a lot of hand-holding in this area. Case in point would be the navigation code that's been written that allows teams to navigate to the IR beacon with no programming. That's pretty disheartening.

The code to navigate to the IR beacon is sub-optimal. As they said at the Kickoff, there is a lot of room for improvement. The reason the code is included is to give people who have never thought about how to control a robot autonomously a place to start.

Also, if you want a mechanical analogue to the software "hand-holding", look no further than the working drive train included in this year's kit. It will help rookies and teams short on resources to compete without making them powerhouses or overly limiting those teams that attempt something more complex.

The relaxed additional electronics rules and the new brain have gone a long way to making electronics and software equal partners to mechanics in the building-a-FIRST-robot equation.

[anupalsingh]

thanx for your input guy, but the only difference between my team and yours is that you guyz are like all professional in C and 1 - 3 people are alright with it from my team. I do agree and all about making a full program for someone else or getting another program to do it for you, but right now my team is falling behind and wouldn't mind the extra help. I'm planning on taking a course to learn C of course for next year, but right now we could use all the help we can.

Thanx

[Astronouth7303]

That's ok. I'm the only full-time programmer, 15, and this is my first big use of C. And I wrote most of the code myself. Heck, I started a thread "Editing Main.c" for the advanced stuff.

PS- The FHPS/Northview team in Grand Rapids, MI #1227 is taking people with an ounce of expierience. All our's are seniors!