EduRobotics and Innovation FIRST system

[Dave...]

During some of the Team Forums, there has been some talk about FIRST sending out some of the components in the kit of parts before handing the entire thing out at the Kick-Off (like motors which have appeared in the kits in the past). Having these components would not be an unfair advantage because they are "carryover" components.

This year, thanks to a donor, teams will receive the EduRobotics kit as soon as payment is received for their first Regional. For many teams, this will be helpful to them in learning how to program.

My questions is this: If a team has already paid for their regional, and if the Innovation First control is being used again without any modifications, then wouldn't sending along the real robot control system also be helpful to the teams? They will get it at kick-off anyways, and if a rookie team really wanted one, they could always buy one directly from Innovation First.

What about other teams? Would your programmers like to have their control system early so that you didn't have to swipe it off of an old robot?

[mtaman02]

i would find it alot easier that the teams get some parts b4 kickoff. motors, control system etc. it will give the teams time to get a general idea and test their pre - robot design and operations.

[D@ve]

I have to agree with mike on that. Getting and early start on some basics is a great help for rockie as well as veterans.

We all wish we had a 7th week to finish!!

[sanddrag]

I know what your asking and I really don't know if that would be a good idea. I just wanted to point out though that the controller and op. interface will probably be different as teams are now in the 1000 numbers.

[rbayer]

Well, the eduRobot uses and Isaac16, which is basically just a toned-down (read: cheaper) version of our current system. The only difference is that you only get half of each type of input or output (8 PWMS, 4 analog ins, etc). Sanddrag brings up an interesting point, though. I wonder if it will be the same system with support for teams >1000 or if it will be completely different...

Anyway, speaking of control systems, I'll put in yet another shameless plug for my new emulator that should let teams learn how to program without the need of an expensive OI/RC. Check it out at http://FIRSTprograms.tripod.com/Programs.htm and let me know what you think via PM, e-mail, the programming forum, or any other way you feel like.

[Ian W.]

i have a feeling that unless there was a major issue with the last version, the only difference is that there will be a fourth LED number (or as rumor has it, the fourth LED number will be uncovered ). plus, if the edurobot/issac 16 system is the same as last year, just half as good, then i would assume the real controller is the same too.

[rbayer]

Originally posted by Ian W.
plus, if the edurobot/issac 16 system is the same as last year, just half as good, then i would assume the real controller is the same too.

What we use IS the Isaac32. It's the same control system that IFI sells commercially, it just has a different name. Check out IFIRobotics.com if you want the details.

[Ian W.]

well, think about it. if we're getting the cheap version, wouldn't it make sense to have the cheap version of the exact one we'll be using come january?

[rbayer]

That's my guess. Otherwise, I'd think the eduRobot would actually be counter-productive, as I plan on spending the next few months teaching sophomores how to make the eduRobot work right.

As for the OI/RC and teams greater than 1000, it currently supports teams up to 4096 (2^12) internally but only has the LCD space to display 999. The current documentation just says that any teams over 999 will appear as ---. I'm pretty sure it still works internally, though, as the dashboard port specs also use 12 bits for the team number. InnovationFIRST will have to make some changes to the feedback electronics, but the core should remain about the same (I hope!).

[Ian W.]

the one thing i'm hopping for is a redesigned dashboard, where you can output more custom stuff. there's so many times where we don't use all the inputs, and we could use more feedback from the code itself, it just annoys me that i can't take in the data that i want from the dashboard . i know i'm whining too much, but that's my only thing i hate about the controllers.

[Neal Probert]

What I'd like to see in the future:

Wireless (maybe even WiFi network) connection to the control system. That would give us communications, program download and dashboard functionality. The communications link would allow us to link up with other bots or a computer running an AI.

If anything, I'd like to find a cheap wireless RS-232 for development and testing purposes, just so that I'm not dragging a 25' cable around while using the Dashboard.

Btw, anybody what happened to that Palm based Dashboard program?

[Lloyd Burns]

Originally posted by rbayer

As for the OI/RC and teams greater than 1000, it currently supports teams up to 4096 (2^12) internally but only has the LCD space to display 999. The current documentation just says that any teams over 999 will appear as ---. I'm pretty sure it still works internally, though, as the dashboard port specs also use 12 bits for the team number. InnovationFIRST will have to make some changes to the feedback electronics, but the core should remain about the same (I hope!).

As mentioned the programming of the internals already supports the 4096 max team number by allotting enough bits everywhere.

Physically, there was space for another dip socket on the circuit board in the first version of the RC, but the case over the socket was opaque.

[Ryan Foley]

take note that Innovation First is re-writing all of their manuals.
check out the documentation page of their website to see what i mean

[rbayer]

Yeah, I noticed that too. It looks like they're just splitting stuff up a little more and making versions specific to the eduRobot. Hopefully they'll get everything back up soon. I assume that Oct 4 actually means Nov 4, so they should be back up sometime tomorrow.

BTW, I've taken apart an OI. There is no 4th LED.