A plea for roboticists

[artdutra04]

Sorry to hijack this thread...

Originally Posted by Bongle

I know this thread is a solid year old, but since it has been bumped and people are reading it...

This post isn't directed at you specifically, it is hopefully directed at team leaders who have the power to allocate people's time: PLEASE don't do this.

At the very least, try to plan so that the programming team has access to the RC, OI, sensors, batteries, and other electronic kit right up until they are installed on the robot. At the very least that enables the programmers to make sure that their outputs make SOME sense given certain inputs, but there is really no substitute for on-robot testing. Most of the components the programmers need to test with are mutually exclusive from the mechanical components of the robot, so they can have their own special box.

This can be solved extremely easily: mount the FRC controller on a Vex Robot chassis and start programming code from day one. Sure, you may not get your exact coefficients needed for certain functions and the like worked out, but you can definitely get the algorithms perfected for doing such things as a CMUcam searching for the light and driving towards it, or using gyro sensors to make sure your robot can automatically correct itself if it's knocked off course.


Getting back onto the topic at hand, over the past year I've become much more involved in the three areas (mechanical, electrical, programming) of robotics than in past years. And I can say that I love being able to do all three fields. Whether I'm programming an absolute-positioning, gyro-based holonomic code for my Vex robot in EasyC or innovating such things as variable-diameter wheels (both of which are ongoing projects of mine), I really love robotics.

Earlier today I received my acceptance letter from WPI; I'm glad that they now offer a degree in robotics, as well as the fact that their campus location is less than an hour away from the Boston hot-spot of robotics/high-tech companies. While a degree in robotics may seem too specialized at the moment, I foresee a very bright future for robotics in the 21st century, and I would love to be a part of it.