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

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

Ensuring that all teams get all the same information is critical. Teams should not need to be plugged into the good ole' boys network to get the information that they need, it should be provided to everyone on an equal basis.

FIRST has done right by creating a central repository for work and requiring all teams to post their findings there first.

I agree. But as of Monday 9/22, the cupboard is still bare.

At the very least, I'd think notifications of local beta tester demos at offseason events and such would start showing up in this particular subforum of the FIRST control system forums. As you said re: rookies - not all of them are hooked into the (I'll rephrase) "in the know" network, of which Chief Delphi certainly a part. I think it would be best if people would announce their demos on the FIRST-provided site, and then by all means extend their notifications elsewhere online by providing a link to the forums post.

I've seen notices for NI/LabVIEW/control system demo events posted to numerous subforums on CD. Even for veterans - it is very confusing to keep track of all of them. I ask everyone to consider following a unified method of announcing control system-related events online.

By posting only links to the central site, if any information is updated on the FIRST forums, it will be automatically captured everywhere else the link was posted. It won't have to be re-edited in multiple places, saving time and avoiding the risk of orphaned, conflicting information appearing online.

I know this is Common Sense and Organization 101, but I don't think it hurts to provide such gentle reminders of streamlined methods.

Conditioning all teams, vet and rookie, to visit central, common, consistent repositories of info and then reinforcing that knowledge with resources provided by local vet teams in the region seems like a logical course of action.

All this comes at one big caveat, though - how frequently will information be posted and updated to the central repository?

Per Bill Miller's blog, control systems were to ship 9/15 - a week ago. Without putting too much pressure on testing groups, I would personally like to hear/see some basic beta tester observations released soon - including whether or not you've actually received the systems.