NI FIRST RSS updates

[lynca]

I hope many members of the FIRST community are subscribing their feed reader to the NI First RSS feed. I use google reader as my feed reader.

http://decibel.ni.com/content/commun...mmunityID=2001

I have already seen a few updates about the 2009 control system posted today.
http://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-1750

[Tom Line]

Thanks Lynca. I hadn't known about the feed before.

Am I the only person who finds digging through the National Instruments website and the NI "Developer" zone somewhat.... lacking?

Wading through constant NI advertisements to find anything I need is irritating. Even in the "FIRST" section, it seems that half the stuff I come across is spam/advertisements.

Why isn't there a single NI-FIRST web page broken out in a very simple manner:

News
Forums
Getting Started with the Crio
C Code Library
Labview Library

Why is organization so darn hard for web masters? :/

I also noticed that Team 397 has a member already programming on Labview with a cRio. Lucky dog.

[Russ Beavis]

Is this a better starting point? I'm betting that the website will expand to include access to default code at some point (or at least a link to wherever the code officially exists).

http://decibel.ni.com/content/community/first

Russ

[Mark McLeod]

Seems like there are some errors in the new power distribution post:
http://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-1750

or designs have changed. The Analog Bumpers are not receiving power although they originally had a power connector.
If it's a change I wonder how our analog sensors get power now?

It's probably just an error. At least I can't think of why a solenoid would be an analog input...

[lynca]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Seems like there are some errors in the new power distribution post:
http://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-1750

or designs have changed. The Analog Bumpers are not receiving power although they originally had a power connector.
If it's a change I wonder how our analog sensors get power now?

It's probably just an error. At least I can't think of why a solenoid would be an analog input...

I agree.

Having a solenoid connect to the 9021 (analog input) module doesn't make very much sense. In the block diagram, it seems the solenoid should be connected to relays via the 9472 module.

It would be nice if the FIRST community comes up with better names for these modules.

[Greg Marra]

Originally Posted by lynca

It would be nice if the FIRST community comes up with better names for these modules.

Me too. All these numbers are going to make the system really intimidating to new teams and students unfamiliar with the system. "I need a Victor" is a lot friendlier than "Hand me the 9021"

[lingomaniac88]

Originally Posted by Greg Marra

All these numbers are going to make the system really intimidating to new teams and students unfamiliar with the system. "I need a Victor" is a lot friendlier than "Hand me the 9021"

Huh? I thought I saw on some of the demo robots that we were still going to use Victors. It seems to me that the modules merely act as bridges between sensors, motors, solenoids, etc. and the cRIO's main processor. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[EricVanWyk]

Originally Posted by lingomaniac88

Huh? I thought I saw on some of the demo robots that we were still going to use Victors. It seems to me that the modules merely act as bridges between sensors, motors, solenoids, etc. and the cRIO's main processor. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Greg is asking that they change the name from "9201" to "Leroy". He isn't asking that they change what they actually are.

I already give people names to inanimate objects, so I won't need FIRST to do it for me. Don't worry, my PD is already named Petey.

[Greg Needel]

I think each one of the components should be named after the lead engineer who designed it. That way if it fails we know who to blame

[lingomaniac88]

Originally Posted by EricVanWyk

Greg is asking that they change the name from "9201" to "Leroy". He isn't asking that they change what they actually are.

The confusion there was that Greg was comparing a speed controller with a module. It's the off-season; I'm not fully functional past 11:00 PM during this time. I guess I need to train myself for January.

[Greg Marra]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

I think each one of the components should be named after the lead engineer who designed it. That way if it fails we know who to blame

I need three Copiolis, two Bakers, and a JVN, stat!