<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hi, <br>
Having a little inside info on FIRST I know there are many
discussions about the change to the Compact RIO as the new controller
and how it will all work. National Instruments has been courting FIRST
for the last three years or so to convince FIRST to use their
controller. I believe the reason is twofold. the IFI controller doesn't
currently support USB so FIRST needed to upgrade anyway and the other
reason is that NI wants to pursue an "Apple" strategy by introducing
their equipment to future engineers at an early age, betting that they
have a positive bias towards NI gear when they enter the workforce.
They have offered a free copy of Labview for many years so they must
have seen some positive benefits from that.<br>
The controller WILL cost more but instead of receiving a new
controller every year, Teams will keep using the previous years
controller and may receive a "virtual" discount by not having to buy a
new controller the following years . The RIO is also expandable so a
team may elect to add new modules to customize their units. At least,
this is some of the discussion so far.<br>
<br>
The argument that it might be better if it costs less was the basis
behind BEST. Some disillusioned FIRST mentors started BEST as an
affordable alternative. It's a nice idea but some of the schools
involved in BEST use it as an excuse not to consider FIRST or for that
matter, other science and math initiatives (an unexpected consequence)
. FIRST challenges schools to look at their finances and consider
carefully the fact that they are able to afford football stadiums,
baseball fields, basketball courts, team equipment, coaches... OK you
see what I mean. These are all good things and FIRST doesn't suggest
schools should discontinue their athletics programs, BUT we in the US
have done a great job of producing athletes only to find that we now
face a severe shortage of engineers and scientists. In the end, it
doesn't matter if the Cowboys or Rangers or Stars win or lose... the
lights will still be on, the water will be clean, the cars will still
run... but we run out of competent engineers and life as we know it
will get a lot harder. FIRST also causes schools to see the possibility
that they CAN produce top notch, enthusiastic, students which in the
end, is their mandate and from that point of view, they see FIRST as an
investment. <br>
<br>
All that being said, I agree 6K is a lot but I plan to help my son's high school form a FIRST team next year. <br>
<br>
As another aside. FIRST is aggressively planning to have a Dallas regional by no later than 2010.<br>
<br>
OK I can find no unbeaten places on this dead horse so I guess I'm done...<br>
<br>
<br>
Steve<br>
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-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Pete Bergstrom <bergstro@usa.net><br>
To: dprglist@dprg.org<br>
Sent: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:42 am<br>
Subject: RE: [DPRG] Processing unit for mobile robot<br>
<br>
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<pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>Randy M. Dumse wrote:<br>
> John Swindle said: Thursday, April 24, 2008 10:08 AM<br>
>> The notable exception is the LabVIEW FPGA that can be <br>
>> embedded in the backplane of industrial controllers to give <br>
>> microsecond resolution and loop rates that are closer to <br>
>> that. Way beyond hobbyist prices.<br>
> <br>
> And yet I just heard on the Seattle list FIRST has chosen the<br>
> LabVIEW Compact RIO for their microcontroller for 2009. That has<br>
> a 400MHz processor and an FPGA in it. And I have to wonder how<br>
> the kid's teams will afford those things.<br>
<br>
It's quite a financing challenge, I think. From my involvement this year with<br>
a FRC team, I understand the sponsor paid $6k to FIRST. The team got a kit of<br>
parts (KOP) and a portion of the $6k towards other expenses.<br>
<br>
The IFI controller included in the KOP for at least the last 2 years has a<br>
sale price of about $1k; I assume that FIRST gets a break on that. They have<br>
already indicated that teams should delay buying the RIO controller until the<br>
start of the new season as they're working on a price break (from the $2.5k<br>
currently indicated).<br>
<br>
I have little doubt that the teams already participating in FRC will be able<br>
to take on the RIO. I do wonder how many more kids would participate if the<br>
sponsorship costs were more affordable. Adding regional tournaments (as in<br>
Minnesota this year) surely reduces the cost for teams to participate by<br>
cutting down on the travel costs, so that's a positive step.<br>
<br>
Pete<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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