Subject:
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Re: Why Java for Robots (university vs hobbyists)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Thu, 19 Jan 2006 23:50:53 GMT
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Original-From:
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Bruce Boyes <BBOYES@SYSTRONIX.antispamCOM>
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Viewed:
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1869 times
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> Let me repeat. I am not against modern languages or modern computers. I am
> not against Java.
>
> I just don't believe that it's suitable for the vast majority of hobby
> robots. Can you show me a Java to PIC compiler (with no external memory)? I
> can show you plenty of C to PIC compilers.
>
> Peter
Maybe we are at cross purposes here. You may be right, that for many
hobbyists, Java is too advanced and complex, and since their needs
are simpler, C is more than enough. Ease of use and low cost is
probably more important than computing power.
Our specific market is universities where, to have the best teaching
tool, they must have the power to run AI, machine vision, etc.
Plowing the same ground they did 10 years ago just is not interesting
and won't let you do anything terribly interesting or get you
published. Time is also of the essence, so spending two years writing
something in C and assembly isn't practical if it's possible to do it
in 1/4 that time with another tool, even if it costs more in
processor resources. Often the goal is to do as much as possible in
one semester or less.
In the case of NXT, it's a commodity product, aimed at a much younger
audience, and must be sold at a good profit margin, for $250. So ease
of use in an unsupervised teenage or younger environment is paramount.
What we'd like to do is take the new NXT motors and sensors and add
support for them to our more powerful brain and I/O system, and use
the NXT controller as a co-processor. It's certainly much more
interesting and capable than the RCX.
We are looking at a new product for 2006 which would be programmable
in Java or C, or a mix of both. It's not Pure anything, but it would
maybe be the best balance.
Best regards
Bruce
------- WWW.SYSTRONIX.COM ----------
Real embedded Java and much more
+1-801-534-1017 Salt Lake City, USA
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