FRC 2010 Registration fees reduced

[Francis-134]

Originally Posted by JoeyTNT280

A laptop PC as the driverstation. This is quite possibly the worst idea I've heard in a long time. If theres anything wrong with the laptop or the Program people could be seriously injured. Making mistakes pretty much isn't an option. I know you could make the argument that that could happen with every driver station but not like this, before the switch killed communications by just cutting the signal, if the Dongle Enable/Disable is a USB and the USB port isn't working and without any knowledge of such there could be injuries.

The good news is that if the robot does not detect a signal, or if the DS does not receive a specific "enable" command, it defaults to disabled. Any failures in the laptop are basically equally as likely to occur in any hardware DS. Also, the disable switch did not kill the signal, it simply closed a contact that told the DS in software to stop the robots.

In fact, the DS from last year was essentially a low-power computer running an OS with a bunch of software to control a robot. To me, this sounds like a laptop. FIRST probably decided to go with a laptop this year because it's only marginally more expensive than a normal DS, is much sturdier, and requires little to no R&D money.

A virtual driver station should be just as safe as a "hardware" driver station.

[bobwrit]

Sigh.... and we had made it so hard to take the cRio off last year's robot

[purduephotog]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

$1500 in "reuseable components"? That's pretty close to the non-discounted price of the FRC cRIO. I wonder what else we'll be expected to salvage from the 2009 robot.

Agreed.

I'm switching to a team this year that had last year as their first year. They have no older systems to test or work from- so having to reuse the cRio is unacceptable.

More details are going to be needed ASAP because if I have to purchase another cRio I've got to find money... somehow.

[purduephotog]

I'm told there will be a press release later today... so I will hold of speculating further.

[EricLeifermann]

i think you should be able to get the rookie kit if you want to pay the 6500. That way you can get an extra crio....

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

$1500 in "reuseable components"? That's pretty close to the non-discounted price of the FRC cRIO. I wonder what else we'll be expected to salvage from the 2009 robot.

I'll be pretty upset if we're expected to pull more than just the cRIO

[Francis-134]

So here's my thoughts now that this has sunk in.

From the start, I was always under the impression that we would be required to reuse every part of the control system each year (cRio, PD board, bumpers/sidecars, basically everything but the speed controllers). On top of this, I had not expected FIRST to lower the registration fee at all. Seeing this announcement, then, makes me quite happy indeed.

Indeed, you are going to get less value for your kit, but from my perspective, it seems that we are going to end up on top. If you recall Bill's post from last year, we knew that we were not getting a new "cRIO, modules, bumpers, digital side car, power distribution board, drivers station and a number of other items" (direct quote from Bill). The fact that they are lowering the registration price leads me to believe that someone at FIRST is thinking about more than the bottom line.

I am quite excited about the prospect for a new driver's station. Now I don't have to walk around zapping myself before I touch the current DS.

With these new developments however, I am now waiting for even more information.

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by rsisk

Veteran teams will receive a kit of parts and reuse some of the elements from the 2009 control system. Rookie teams will receive a kit of parts containing everything in a Veteran kit of parts plus the reusable elements Veteran teams already have on hand. The official cost to Rookie teams will be $6500; however, Dean Kamen has generously offered to make a $1000 donation to FIRST for each Rookie team joining in 2010. That money will be applied to the Rookie team’s registration fee reducing the real cost to the team to $5500.

This seems to me like some crafty wordsmithing. The way I read this, the costs may have actually increased. And, this only says that Dean is covering the cost of the increase for rookies for 2010 (no mention of 2011 and beyond). Presumably the $6500-$5000 = $1500 difference between the two kits is FIRST's cost of the components that veterans will need to reuse. In the past we got new components each year so we were able to keep old robots running (which is very important for Chairman's outreach etc). It's a reasonable assumption that, in order to keep our 2009 robot running, we might have to spend at least $1500 (maybe more, since we might not get the same discounts as FIRST) to buy new versions of the components to put on our 2010 robot.

FIRST may have decreased the dollar amount we have to write on the check, but they also reduced the value of what we're getting for that check. The difference between the dollar amounts of those two items is what will really determine if the fees were actually reduced or not.

[Akash Rastogi]

Who knew smaller trophies and lighter medals would make such a difference

Just kidding, but this is awesome.