FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) just announced the competition game for the 2010 FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition). I talked with several Rookie teams at the kick-off and practice build and a lot of them need help, especially with software. I was thinking there needed to be a "FIRST's Beginners guide to a Robotics software in 6 weeks". The reality is the software is usually worked on after the robot has shipped and even during competition.
I have worked with Team 704 (Go Warriors!) for a year and I've been in software since I started learning about software in High School, before FIRST, before PC's. I have my own robots at home (NXT and basic stamp controlled) and have played with them for years.
So on to the important stuff, how to get started with your software for your Robot. After the game is announced (or was announced as of when this was posted), the first thing your team should be doing is brainstorming about what you want the robot to do and the design of the robot. At this stage, the kids/mentors doing the software should be working with everyone else to come up with a design.
However, if you're going to be doing software you should also be looking at the motors, controllers, and sensors. Especially look at how to use the software to retrieve information and control the sensors. How to control the motors and pneumatics. The more you know about them the better you'll be able to use them. You can also speak up during design about what can be used for control and operation.
One of your main resources on the web should be the National Instruments web site. It's full of tutorials, information, help, and has a good technical discussion board. Also, contact the NI sales representative for your area and see how accepting they are to the idea of helping you. They might not be able to help much, but then again, if they can help at a crucial time when you're stuck, it could be key.
You need to work with the kids to figure out which programming language to use. With kids with little or no experience in programming I would suggest using the LabVIEW graphical language, it's drag and drop programming. If you have kids who are experienced in programming, find out what languages they know. If you have a couple kids who have been through a C++ or Java class, you might think about doing your project in one of those languages.
The main thing is to play with the sensors. Get the camera out, make a pattern on a wall of the target and see if you can detect it, lock on it, move it out of focus and back in. Walk between the camera and image and re-acquire.
See how the gyro works, how the accelerometer works, how the limit switches work with, all with your cRio controller. This first week should be learning what the kids know, how the languages are used, and about the sensors and controllers and how they work.
But also be in on the design and thinking of where you need sensor's, what sensor's and controllers you need, and the general build of the Robot.
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