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

[BornaE]

If you go to http://forums.usfirst.org/ then click on "FIRST Programs" then click on "2009 FRC Control System Beta Test Public Forum" you get to here

http://forums.usfirst.org/forumdisplay.php?f=743

which would be the "2009 FRC Control System Beta Test Public Forum"

[seanwitte]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

Yep -- but having only a central repository and limiting the teams' discussions to that repository is less useful. That's all.

How is having all of the information in one place less useful than having it spread across multiple web sites in disparate formats? They're doing the right thing by putting together a central portal.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by seanwitte

How is having all of the information in one place less useful than having it spread across multiple web sites in disparate formats? They're doing the right thing by putting together a central portal.

I meant to say only that limiting teams to only a central, censored location might be a bad idea that doesn't serve teams as well as other methods. Nothing more, nothing less.

[OZ_341]

If you are within Driving Distance of Ambler, PA on November 8th, Team 103 will be holding seminars and demonstrations for the new controller at Ramp Riot 2008.

Ramp Riot is sold out but every interested team is welcome to stop by and learn about the control system on that day. You do not have to be a registered team to participate.

Thanks to Team 103 for making this possible!

More details will follow in the Ramp Riot thread. If you want to access general information about Ramp Riot (directions etc.) you can go to our CD thread or visit www.team341.com and click on the Ramp Riot link.

Hope to see you there.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by Madison

Teams can best choose how to disseminate information to those in their area -- whether that be blogs, mailing lists, or face-to-face meetings.

All of this does not help a rookie team that has no idea where these resources are located.

Originally Posted by Madison

There are teams in this area that we can communicate with via mailing list very quickly, but they are not plugged-in to this community or to communications from FIRST the same way that we are.

Even to rookie teams that they do not yet know about?

Originally Posted by Madison

Beyond that -- even for folks who're tuned in to everything FIRST does -- I think there are significantly better ways of sharing and indexing information than in a blog.

Agreed. But at least an official central repository can be e-mailed to any team that signs up for FIRST.

Originally Posted by Madison

I just think this is an instance where freedom to address the concerns and needs of the community you're serving outweigh the need for uniformity or control. Maybe that freedom will be available to teams. I'm just sayin' -- I hope FIRST agrees. They usually don't, though; at least not with me.

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.

JM $.02

[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.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

Finally, per Bill Miller's blog, control systems were to ship 9/15 - a week ago. I'd like to hear/see some initial beta tester observations soon. At the very least to know that these beta systems do, in fact, exist and are being tested as we speak.

That would be difficult, since everyone I have talked to has yet to receive theirs.

[BornaE]

Originally Posted by Cory

That would be difficult, since everyone I have talked to has yet to receive theirs.

Some teams have just received theirs, we are supposed to get our kit tomorrow, results will be coming soon

as far as posting goes, we can post information anywhere( our website or chiefdelphi) as long as we put a link to that website on the official FIRST Forums so that everyone will know about it.

We will be having a really busy couple months!

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

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

As of Saturday 9/20, HOT 67 had not yet received theirs, per a mentor I spoke to at Kettering.

[theun4gven]

Team 79 received ours late last night so work on it will not even begin until later tonight. The digital sidecars are not expected to arrive until Thursday so testing anything requiring motor controllers, relays, or even just a pwm connection (excluding solenoids) cannot be tested until then.

We are currently finishing our team beta controller website where we will post all information produced by the team, including whitepapers, photos, videos, diagrams, notes, issues, etc. A lot of this will be posted to the required FIRST repository, but everything will be available to anyone who wants it.

Schedules were due to be posted to the beta-program-only forum yesterday so I would assume this information will be showing up on the FIRST forum shortly. The schedule FIRST gave the teams seemed rushed at first, but now that we have not even received our entire controller to test, it is going to be nearly insane for the first few tasks. Expect a lot more information to disseminate after teams have completed their bench-top tests and ironed out general controller functionality.

[Waynep]

The 2009 Control System Intro Video is posted on the FIRST Forums:
http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=9802

Beta Teams should begin posting on these Forums shortly as well. Stay tuned...

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Waynep

The 2009 Control System Intro Video is posted on the FIRST Forums:
http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=9802

Beta Teams should begin posting on these Forums shortly as well. Stay tuned...

"This video violates FIRST Logo Standards"......ok sorry I couldn't resist.

LOL thanks for posting what will be the first of what I am sure many resources uploaded to the Forums site. The vid is definitely more detailed than anything else I've seen up to now. Keep it up!

[www.divsys.com]

Digital Sidecars are on the way.

Gotta love long lead-time parts...ordered MONTHS ago.