**FIRST EMAIL**/Invitation to Beta test the New Control System

[Waynep]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

Possibly, but l will play devils advocate for a second. I am team X who is in the beta test and we hit a snag when downloading our labview code to the crio. Immediately we go to our blog and post about the error. Team Y from another state who is not in the beta test reads this and gets really panicked, and then they come post it on delphi and now there is a rumor that the crio has problems when you download code to it. When in actuality the team had the wrong port setting setup in labview and everything was fine. Having an intermediary such as FIRST or NI before info hits the public will be good in this situation.

Now one could say that if it hit the public someone might be able to quickly fix the problem. But as the complexity of the task increases it will be hit or miss if the problems can be solved.

From reading posts over the past year or so since the new control system was announced I have come to realized that people are very nervous about it and the last thing we need at this point is a mob mentality spreading rumors.

First off I'd like to congratulate and thank the 18 Beta Test Teams. You have undertaken a great task on building our communal knowledge foundation on the new control system. With that said, Beta Teams be warned I'm sending all the non-Beta teams after you guys.

With regards to the flow of information, we need to keep in mind that FIRST has asked the teams to sign a DISCLOSURE agreement, not an all encompassing non-disclosure agreement (NDA). FIRST is providing guidelines as to how it would like the information to be disseminated, their intent, as they've increasingly demonstrated recently, is to have as much open sharing of appropriate information as possible. Greg nailed it in his earlier post a lot of it is trying to prevent a mob mentality and provide a safety check for posts. Keeping the discussion focused and appropriate will be more productive and allow teams to quickly pick up what's relevant and necessary without reading through all the idle chatter.

I want to point out that the disclosure agreement also serves the practical purpose of requiring teams not to disclose the contact information of FIRST staff/Beta Test Support members. The staff supporting the beta test will have their hands full in supporting their efforts as well as getting ready for the '09 Control system launch. Being inundated with requests would diminish their abilities to serve the Beta test teams and complete their tasks for the entire FIRST community.

FIRST is venturing into uncharted waters in this new era of information sharing and FIRST community involvement to which I think they should be commended. I've been assured that there will be a healthy number of Beta Support personnel, and the Forum Moderators will be actively working to get productive discussion approved and posted as quickly as possible. Let's give them a chance and play by the rules they specified and try it out.

Teams, FIRST has not restricted your interactions with Beta test teams, so do get involved, send e-mails, offer to help, make arrangements to get over there to observe and participate. I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't nervous about the transition to the new control system, but knowing that we have a lot of FIRST teams working together provides some SOLID comfort that we'll get over any bumps together and things will be alright.

FIRST has also not restricted Beta Test teams on showing the control system at public events, so be prepared to see it at off-seasons and other demos and have questions ready for those teams.

Alright Beta Test GAME ON

[Kims Robot]

Definitely a big Congrats & Good Luck to the Beta Test Teams... you have A LOT of work ahead of you!!

I have to say Im sort of suprised/sad to see how quiet this has all gotten all of a sudden, for something that so many teams (well at least 159) were excited about, it all seems on lockdown. I havent read the actual document that the teams had to sign Disclosure or Non-Disclosure, however it reads, but I guess I sort of expected the Beta test teams to be looking for input for their test plans. I know a few threads were generated, and perhaps some of the teams are discussing on their own forums or lock down forums or via email with local teams, but I would guess that the formation of the test plans could use input from any teams with ideas, and other than the quietness on CD, I havent seen much of anything on the FIRST forums (am I missing something?), and no real Beta test discussion on the NI forums.

I was thinking of maybe looking up all the websites of the beta test teams and checking their forums... I'll post that later if I find anything useful. We are fortunate to have a team within an hours drive of us, but I have to imagine this is painful for the teams that arent within weekly driving distance.

[EricH]

I'm thinking that part of the quietness has to do with the beta test teams not having their units yet. The other part, of course, is the disclosure/NDA.

[ATannahill]

can brandon set up a forum or subforum for the beta teams to release info, when they have permission

[Brandon Martus]

Originally Posted by rtfgnow

can brandon set up a forum or subforum for the beta teams to release info, when they have permission

There already is a subforum (Technical -> Control System -> FRC Control System ) for discussion of the new control system. That is probably the most appropriate place to put things ..

[BornaE]

Originally Posted by EricH

I'm thinking that part of the quietness has to do with the beta test teams not having their units yet. The other part, of course, is the disclosure/NDA.

We dont have any more info about anything yet. we are waiting for FIRST too.

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

Definitely a big Congrats & Good Luck to the Beta Test Teams... you have A LOT of work ahead of you!!

I thought 1511 was a Beta Test team? Didn't you submit a joint application with all the Rochester teams?

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

I have to say Im sort of suprised/sad to see how quiet this has all gotten all of a sudden

Heh. The quiet before the storm....

Originally Posted by EricH

beta test teams not having their units yet. The other part, of course, is the disclosure/NDA.

In contact with a beta team - in which nothing was disclosed, I assure everyone - it was stated "We had to to sign an disclosure affidivavit that does not allow us to talk to teams until FIRST gives us permission." The rest of the message was basically saying 'we'd like to make plans, but we just can't at the moment, please be patient'.

So, to me, the teams still need to get some direction from FIRST, and then I predict the floodgates will open....

Don

[prashil27]

Hi guys, my name is Prashil Patel from Team 1727 REX, I just had a question that..how can we buy a new control system(beta Testing)...because we did apply for beta testing but they didnt choose us..so we decided to buy one..but we r not sure where to buy it..can anyone please guide through??

[whytheheckme]

Originally Posted by prashil27

Hi guys, my name is Prashil Patel from Team 1727 REX, I just had a question that..how can we buy a new control system(beta Testing)...because we did apply for beta testing but they didnt choose us..so we decided to buy one..but we r not sure where to buy it..can anyone please guide through??

The units won't be available for purchase, at least, not while the beta program is going on.

[EricH]

The quickest way to get one is to register and pay promptly.

http://forums.usfirst.org/showpost.p...65&postcount=4

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

Heh. The quiet before the storm....

One expects the storm itself will not be quiet (I've already dealt with one "Quiet Storm" - former #1 Browns pick Courtney Brown from Penn State, and I was less than enthused), and that the "winds" blowing in from beta tester land will be fierce.

[prashil27]

thank you very much guys!!

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

I was thinking of maybe looking up all the websites of the beta test teams and checking their forums... I'll post that later if I find anything useful.

Perhaps this might be of use?

http://sites.google.com/a/neofra.com/2009controlsystem/

This is a Google Site I have put together to try and organize 2009 control system related information for the local teams in my area. I expect it to change and evolve greatly in the coming weeks. We'll see where it goes.

Collectively, I haven't seen much activity on the beta tester websites I could locate, but I didn't expect to find much of anything....yet. Beta Test Teams/Groups - as this project continues, feel free to point out links to new information that doesn't yet appear. I'll update the NEOFRA site links accordingly.

Team 39's group appears to intend to share information online with the rest of us, via their forums. They've already posted a link to a LabVIEW training video. Thanks to them for taking the early initiative!

Beta Testers - No one is more in tune with your operations than you are. If I make any mistakes or omissions in what I post to the Google Site, you are welcome to contact me via the NEOFRA email address and provide better link information for the benefit of all.

For now, I'm just being proactive in setting this up during the "calm before the storm", as Don put it. I've got the patience to wait until the teams actually RECEIVE their systems before expecting information to flow.

Anyone in the community is welcome to suggest new content links for the site above should they discover something useful that the NEOFRA site hasn't caught. This includes some "Web Gems" - videos, NI demo software links, online tutorial links, etc. that aren't a part of any BT-published content. I expect to further categorize site links once specialized information begins to appear.

Finally, this site is not meant to supplant any centralized online repository of information FIRST might release in the future. It is primarily a resource for my local NEOFRA teams in Northeast Ohio, and I'll continue to update it to serve the best interests of that group. I provide the link to the community at large it in the hope that it might also become beneficial to even more FRC teams. However, neither I nor NEOFRA provide any guarantees to that effect. Everyone is welcome to browse the site at your own risk.

We are fortunate to have a team within an hours drive of us, but I have to imagine this is painful for the teams that arent within weekly driving distance.

Yes, quite. The Internet is our friend...only if FIRST and Beta Test Teams choose to utilize it as a means to reach the teams that cannot be present in person.

[JaneYoung]

I've been wondering if it would it be helpful to suggest that teams put 'Beta Test Team' under their username and/or in their signature along with link information they wish to provide.