My Tetrix LIKE and DISLIKE list #2

This time I will focus on the Tetrix vis (software), because programming a Tetrix robot is a little trickier than a Lego one.

What are the basic issues on the Terix vis? (NEGATIVE)
1)first of all you have to find out that the Tetrix motors and servos have to be configured in a the Labview motor configurator. This is not difficult but you have to know it.
2)to use every Tetrix configuration (speed, distance) you need a encoder witch are expensive. Without the encoder you can run the motors only in the constant power mode.
3)with every program you write you have to pay attention on the watchdog and that could be very annoying.
4)if the connection (PC-NXT) breaks the motors are continuing the last command (until the watchdog stops them)
5)the "move a distance" vi is not my favorite one, it works pretty solid but the controller try to catch the exact encoder position what definitely not possible is, that makes the vi very slow because the controller tries it until the watchdog stops it. You can adjust the watchdog time direct on the vi but if you want to use the same configuration but 2 different length it is still very slow for one or the longer distance don't come until the end.


But there are still a few positive aspects on the Tetrix vis.
1)the vis are very complete, you can program a lot of things.
2)it's easy to run more motors at the same time and at different speeds (with arrays)
3)after working a while with the Tetrix vis you get used to use them correctly and it becomes as easy than the LEGO ones.


So all in all the vis are not perfect but they are useful and programmable but you have to work a little bit with them to know how to use them right, so don't be afraid....:)