Subject:
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Re: FW: Something else is needed, I think...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Tue, 4 May 1999 12:14:07 GMT
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Original-From:
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Laurentino Martins <LMARTINS@MARKTEST.avoidspamPT>
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Viewed:
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875 times
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I've been reading all this discussion of an new OS for the RCX (or whatever it will be) with great interest.
I know I'm out of this discussion/development from the start due not having much low level knowledge on what you are all talking about, but I remember someone having said that you are so deep into that discussion that you forget that users really need.
Well, I'm a user :-) so I'm going to point out some things people have been asking for.
Besides the common stuff people ask, that is more than 32 vars, arrays, etc, I also think we need:
- To be able to run a function/task at a predetermined time, once or on a regular basis. This is very useful for using with rotation sensors.
- Floating point is not optional. You may reduce the precision to a few bits, or do a few hacks instead of a full blown floating point support, but we definitely need some sort of floating point. If you want a bot that keeps track of it's position, you need it (you also need at least a sin() function/lookup table). Just one example.
- People don't ask this because they currently have in the firmware, but if you build something from scratch you must definitely create some library for the PC/Mac/whatever for interacting with the unit at real time. Nowadays we can read the contents of a var/sensor/etc from the PC and create a PC program that reacts to it. Don't take that from us!
- C was the language of choice for NQC and since most of us already know C, it should be the first language of choice (or C++?).
- I think most of us don't give much importance to preemptive multitasking, exceptions and all the "sophisticated" programming like that. Most our programs are so small that 90%+ of us will never need them.
- The beauty of the current firmware is that is takes care of everything for us. Don't force us to build complex code for something that could/should be trivial (like reading a rotation sensor value), or we (users) will not migrate easily to the new OS. Period.
- A IDE like the RcxCC and an on-line Help IS A MUST. :-)
Nothing else comes up to my mind right now, but if you are really interested on what users need, you should make an effort to browse the LUGNET messages and see what users *really* complain about.
Thank you :-)
Laurentino Martins
[mailto:lau@mail.telepac.pt]
[http://www.terravista.pt/Enseada/2808/]
--
Did you check the web site first?: http://www.crynwr.com/lego-robotics
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: FW: Something else is needed, I think...
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| (...) Do you mean, when a timer reaches a certain value, run a specified task? Can't you do this already, or is something broken with the current firmware in this regard? (It seem that some combination of wait and start_task should do the trick, (...) (25 years ago, 4-May-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | FW: Something else is needed, I think...
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| -----Original Message----- From: Ralph Hempel [mailto:rhempel@bmts.com] Sent: Monday, May 03, 1999 7:07 PM To: Mark Tarrabain Subject: RE: Something else is needed, I think... (...) The FORTH bytecode producer is an UMBILICAL forth, and then you (...) (25 years ago, 3-May-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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