Nearly Officially Official: cRIO Control System To Be Reused

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

So much for keeping old robots operational for demos and presentations about FIRST in the community, teaching new students about different types of manipulators and drive trains on operational old robots, and having a second robot around for driver practice and programming. :-/

So exactly how is only giving teams a single control system good again?

Realistically there are many teams who do none of the types of things that you describe. To me it makes the most sense to offer two registration costs for 2010 and beyond. A full $6000 for those teams who want to receive a new controller for the season, and a reduced rate in the $3000-$3500 ballpark for those teams who are fine with re-using their old cRIO and associated parts. This would provide an affordable avenue for those teams who are struggling to make ends meet year after year.

Of course if they're going to charge $6000 and not give teams a control system, we would have a very different story on our hands. I'm not sure how it would be possible to justify keeping costs the same while providing teams with a significantly diminished KOP.