Extra C Rio?

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by EricVanWyk

I'm thinking its on the order of "What if 2010's XYZ is sufficiently different from the 2009 version that it would be unusable"

That situation had better not apply to the cRIO. Veteran teams have been told they're supposed to use the 2009 version they already have, and they have been told how to buy another one like it. If buying a spare cRIO turns out to be a waste of money, Bill's going to have an awful lot of explaining to do.

[EricVanWyk]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

That situation had better not apply to the cRIO. Veteran teams have been told they're supposed to use the 2009 version they already have, and they have been told how to buy another one like it. If buying a spare cRIO turns out to be a waste of money, Bill's going to have an awful lot of explaining to do.

Disclaimer: I really am only guessing here (Honest).

The most specific reason I could fathom would be CAN connectivity. The 2009 cRIO kit did not come with a CAN module. Will the 2010 kit have one? If so, I'd imagine that the specific module would be part of the Veteran KoP and the 2010 cRIO kit, so a team that bought a spare right now would have to buy a second CAN adaptor in January.

[Travis Hoffman]

Here's a related question - does the $750 cRIO + modules discount - if used now - apply to the 2009 or 2010 season, since you can only get one discount per year? What is NI's definition of a "new" season? Kickoff?

[Dale]

I just had a detailed conversation with NI about what their policy is going to be about the timing of ordering cRIOs at the $750 price.

The $750 price is based on a calendar year. The year starts Jan 1st. Late 2008 was an exception. Many of us ordered a second cRIO in late 2008 for the 2009 season. All those early orders are rolled together and considered part of your 2009 orders.

For example, we ordered a second cRIO in December 2008. I am precluded from ordering another at the $750 price until Jan 1st, 2010. You can order all you want at the $1,400 price.

I tried to convince them that FRC teams really run on a school calendar year (or at least from the date of a team's registration for a FRC event) but they wouldn't budge. If we want to change this it would have to be an agreement between FIRST and NI.

I don't know what this means for the Rookie team who wants to order a second cRIO in the Fall. I forgot to ask about that.

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by Dale

I am precluded from ordering another at the $750 price until Jan 1st, 2010. You can order all you want at the $1,400 price.

If we pay $1,400 do we get the FRC version or the off the shelf version?

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by dlavery

If you are only reading the words in what I said, then you are missing the message.

Your words are all I can read, because words are all you wrote.

The message came through just fine in the rest of your post: it's best to wait until you know the requirements before committing to a major purchase that might not be useful. But the specific question of whether a prototype/testbed/practice robot might end up being against the rules seems very strange to bring up. It would be an attempt to extend control by FIRST into activities they shouldn't care about, and it would be impossible to enforce.

[falconmaster]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Fred -

Before spending a substantial sum on those components, are you sure it is going to be legal to build a second robot? Are you comfortable making this investment now, if you were to find out at kick-off that you could not use those parts? I only mention this as a caution, given the warning that we all read in the first paragraph of this entry in Bill's Blog. As always, we have to remember that the rules from prior years DO NOT apply to this year's competition.

-dave


.

I did not mean to stir up a hornets nest here. Thanks for the advice Dave. I posted this on CD and did not check back in for a while, imagine my surprise to find all this discussion!