Over sixty excited students and mentors from thirteen regional teams- veterans and rookies alike- gathered at the University of Minnesota’s Willey Hall to learn about the new 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition control system. The seminar, hosted by Team 1816-The Green Machine, Team 2129-Ultraviolet, and Team 2220-Blue Twilight, aimed to ease the transition teams face this season switching from the old control system to the new cRIO, produced by National Instruments. In order to prepare, the three veteran FRC teams spent almost six weeks testing the new system. Team 1816 was one of only eighteen “beta-test” teams selected by FIRST; collaborators from other veteran teams quickly joined the test crew.
Presented by 1816 team members Dan P, Amy Z, Tom S, and Anna W, as well as LabVIEW whiz Mark U. of Ultraviolet, the seminar began with an overview of the hardware included with the cRIO kit and a discussion of how all the components fit together. Wiring and mounting the new system were also covered. “You think you’re going to break the power distribution block, but you’re not,” noted Amy Z., about inserting and properly “wago-ing” or connecting wires into the block. The use of ferrule pins was suggested for connections, rather than soldering, the teams recommended.
Following a spirited question and answer segment, the seminar shifted gears into discussion of the different programming languages available to teams this year: C/C++ and LabVIEW. The advantages and disadvantages of each language were covered for teams uncertain which platform would be best. The graphical interface of LabVIEW may be familiar to teams that have worked with FIRST Lego Robotics, as the software is the foundation of FLL programming. Finally, the seminar concluded with a demonstration of the new system at work, having been retrofitted into Team 1816’s 2007 “ramp-bot.” Mark U also conducted an in-depth LabVIEW programming tutorial.
Reviews of the seminar were positive. “It’s been very useful,” said veteran mentor Neil of Team 525-Swart-Dogs, Cedar Fall, IA. “Obviously there’s a learning curve, and being able to get such a depth of information is very useful.” He also noted, along with several others present, that with so much information it was too bad that the seminar couldn’t be longer. An appreciation for the new system’s features was also evident there, with a few students noting that the interface looked much improved and easier to understand.