Control Hub Pilot Program
FIRST Tech Challenge has chosen North Texas to be a “pilot region” for the REV Robotics Control Hub in the 2019-2020 Skystone (presented by Qualcomm) season.
What this means is that teams from North Texas can apply to participate in the pilot and use a REV Robotics Control Hub on their robot in North Texas events and at the World Championship. The REV Control Hub will not be legal for competition at events in regions that are not part of the pilot program (with some very limited exceptions).
Most of you are familiar with the REV Expansion Hub that was introduced in the Relic Recovery season. The REV Control Hub combines the features of the Expansion Hub and the Robot Controller Android handset into a single unit, eliminating the need for a separate Robot Controller handset (phone) on the robot. (An Android handset is still needed for the Driver Station.) This will provide teams with an option that reduces space and cabling requirements, while retaining the same programming interface, driver controls, and the like.
If none of the above makes sense to you — you can safely ignore it. Using a Control Hub and/or participation in the pilot is completely optional for teams — teams that wish to continue using the existing REV Expansion Hub and Modern Robotics components will be able to do so for this and future seasons. There are no plans to retire or obsolete these systems.
In addition, our expectation and experience is that the REV Control Hub does not create an “uneven playing field” between teams using the Control Hub and ones continuing to use the Expansion Hub setup.
More information about the Control Hub pilot program and how to apply is in the attached PDF document. Note that teams must be in a pilot region and have completed team registration for the 2019-2020 season prior to applying for the pilot program.
If you have further questions on this program, double-check the attached Pilot Description document, and then send me an email at <patrick.michaud@utdallas.edu>.