Old IFI FIRST Control systems.

I have five complete IFI control systems I am looking to part with.

Robot control, operator interface, radios, and other associated hardware.

For those who don’t remember this is what they look like… http://ifirobotics.com/frc-robot-control-system-overview.shtml

:ahh:

Does anyone have any suggestions how much they may be worth or who might need them/have use for them?

How much? I’ve been itching to make a robot on my spare time, but I never knew what controller to use.

Brad, what years are they from? There are differences between the languages and memory they carried, IIRC.

I don’t have a set price yet, that’s what I posted here for. All I know is that they were worth $1,100 back in the day. :slight_smile: I doubt they are even worth half of that today, maybe even a third. PM with what you are willing to pay and maybe we can work out a deal.

Brad, what years are they from? There are differences between the languages and memory they carried, IIRC.

They are from 2001 through 2006 I believe.

I actually have six systems, but I am missing the robot radio for one. Hopefully I can locate that…

Three of the older systems and three of the new.

I checked the PCB’s last night for the new ones (Microchip) and they are labeled as follows: FRC 2005, FRC 2006, and FRC 2006.

I’m not sure why two are marked FRC 2006, but maybe somebody else knows…

Earlier today I sorted the older systems and confirmed them as “matched” sets. Back in the day we had change the team #'s so we could run multiple robots at a time so I know they go together.

Also I have 10+ serial joysticks for these systems.

Thanks,

Bradley

The second one labeled FRC 2006 is probably what you got for 2007, since the systems were the same. Unless your team purchased a second set for a practice robot.

The newer ones from 2005 on (pic 8520 & 8722) will be worth more than the older pBasic editions.

I also have a complete set from 2005 if anyone is interested. The information is sitting in the CD-swap for a while.

I may be interested in getting a set either for my personal use, or for our team. We got an old IFI system from team 501 and assembled a working robot chassis in the fall. Come off-season they need something to control the 8wd swerve they may build to keep their minds busy! :wink:

As far as I understand it, there were a few different generations of the IFI system:

2000-2002 Original IFI system (BASIC Stamp 2 based)
2003 IFI System (BASIC Stamp 2sx based)
2004 IFI System (Microchip PIC18F8520 based)
2005-2008 IFI System (Microchip PIC18F8722 based)

I might be off on the years (i think the 8520 based model might have been active from 04-05, and 8722 was new in 06), but I believe these to be the 4 variants that exist.

I’m not 100% sure, but I am reasonably sure that the 8722 PIC was 2006 onwards, with an optional upgrade for the 2005 (which originally carried the 8520)

This may also be a product of my absurd desires to correct you at least once in my lifetime. :slight_smile:

You guys are correct.

pic 8520 was for 2004-2005
pic 8722 was for 2006-2008

pm’d :smiley:

Success!

I can go retire on my island now, my life’s work is complete.

Personally, those IFI systems are my favorite, I don’t need any extra systems now, but I encourage other people to take advantage of this offer and learn some real nitty gritty programming, none of this object oriented stuff :wink:

That’s my wife’s job and she’s very good at it… :slight_smile:

Who wants to make some battle bots?!?!

kinda hard to find them on ebay…but there is one old set of two black boxes for $60 BIN, item 200570041740 , that no one bought yet.

I like to use ebay completed auctions to “appraise” stuff. It’s a crude method, but it is sort of useful.

should make a script for that . . . or in todays world an app

We actually use these controllers for our robotics class in school, and we have saved every set. They are personally my favorite, and some of them have been working for around 6 years now! With the fatality rate of the cRIOs for the past few years, I can only hope we get two or three years out of them.

I have no idea how much they are worth, and I am sure our team is not interested, but I just wanted to share how our team/school uses them.

For reference, over the past year i’ve acquired 3 sets (Robot Controller, OI, and matched radios). I payed ~$400 for one set that was Stamp based + two 884s + two joysticks and about $120 each for the other two which were both Pic based. I’ve see them listed for much higher, but did not pay attention to whether they sold or not.

P.S. They’ve held up well for me so far in my combot. :slight_smile: But they are bulky.

combot?