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I am currently braking my electric vehicle using code on an arduino. This may be a stupid question, but are computers able to be used during the 8 minute setup time? or do we have to somehow code it on the vehicle itself

brain_18 wrote:I am currently braking my electric vehicle using code on an arduino. This may be a stupid question, but are computers able to be used during the 8 minute setup time? or do we have to somehow code it on the vehicle itself

An Arduino executes code without the need of a computer hooked up to it. A computer is only needed to upload code. You can bring the laptop as a calibration device to upload/compile/edit code to the Arduino, but you cannot have it attached to the vehicle during the run.

Thank you!, just making sure we could use it to upload code

And in case you need it to arbitrate, an FAQ was posted on the national website that permits the use of computers as a tool. Additionally, rule 4.e) says that teams may change speed and distance- which are controlled by Arduinos- before runs, so they must allow computers to do that. There has definitely been confusion about the usage of computers/microprocessors this year!

samlan16 wrote:And in case you need it to arbitrate, an FAQ was posted on the national website that permits the use of computers as a tool. Additionally, rule 4.e) says that teams may change speed and distance- which are controlled by Arduinos- before runs, so they must allow computers to do that. There has definitely been confusion about the usage of computers/microprocessors this year!

Even if the national committee decided to outlaw computers as tools, there are still a large number of ways to implement a user interface into an Arduino. Mine is set up to allow for me to enter the distance via an LCD shield and the vehicle will run that distance to the vertical accuracy of less than 1 cm. I highly recommend this approach and just skip over the entire hassle of bringing a laptop to competition in the first place.