jamesabrannan
I think the title speaks for itself... ;-)
Not all of us are kids with the diminished attention span induced by video games. Would be nice to have written documentation along with videos.
BTW...I've written a couple point-here-click-there books, also grad student in computer science program. Say I was to write a book, more programming focused than controls (although would have chapter on controls), think that is something folks might be interested in? Of course, I'd be wanting to sell the book, either through a publisher or ezrobot direct. Just tossing it around, as some of us still like the written word....not that the videos are bad, they are good.
Creating a robotic head concierge/Jeff Dunham style personality named Cicero (after the Roman Orator) for my robotics class project. Will post videos soon.
Shout out to Robotics Squared....the inexpensive head really causes some double takes by folks given the uncanny valley.
James A. Brannan Brannan Technical Solutions LLC Hood College Graduate Student
@Justin, my tutorial posts dont tell anyone how to do anything but tell everyone how everything in that topic work. When things need to go deeper there's a reply box
A written book would be out of date almost immediately. Not just die to the gui but due to additional features, changes in syntax, changes in controls amongst numerous other things. These plus my previous reasons all made it not feasible to produce a book for the EZ-B.
What may be feasible is how to build a robot and use the EZ-B and ARC as the control for it.
I was going to write a long response on why Rich is misguided, but I don't want to have my first thread end up a flame war. Let's agree to disagree on the value of written documentation, regardless of the software's lifecycle.
I'm assuming the older guys said yes and the younger guys said no. Shame, soon Plutarch and Shakespeare will be little more than Wikipedia entries. Heck, when I go to my graduate classes I have to sit in the first row, not because I'm the teacher's pet, but so I don't get distracted by all the darn kids Facebooking, playing games, texting, and God only knows what else while the professor is lecturing. Back in my day we got in trouble if we wore Walkmans or aviator shades to class.
Now get off my lawn!
PLease, proceed with why I am misguided. Provided it's accurate, well thought out, justified and written in such a way that it's not intentionally attempting to belittle or just outright argue then there wont be any kind of flame war (have you not read the forum, it's rare for discussions/disagreements to turn nasty).
Also, I am all for written documentation, hence why I do not make video tutorials. However, in this day and age everything needs to be "living" or "evolving". Hard copy print may not always be the correct medium to publish on.
I would be all for a book if the author would provide accurate and quick updates to it as soon as the software which it is covering changes. In the case of ARC this would mean multiple updates per month hence why I deemed it as not feasible when I looked in to it.
A further "FYI", I already have half of a "dummies guide to" style book written, with screenshots and photos however it is a couple of years old and therefore drastically out dated now. If it was of any use I would have shared this however it is of no use and EZ-Robot's learn section is the better tool.
I actually prefer documentation of this sort (quickly changing or evolving) to be offered online but in a format that is easily printable. It's just easier for me (yes I am old) to have printed paper in my hand that I can look at rather than have to switch browser tabs or back and forth between apps. I always check before I start a project that I have the latest info then reprint it if I don't. If things are documented with revision dates it makes it pretty easy to know if you need to reprint or not.
I agree...easily printable is the best middle-ground.
As for misguided, its not a personal attack, just that scattered resources doesnt replace a printable web page or book. And all software changes, thats why most used book stores dont buy computer books. Approach a publisher, write it for a pittance. then be prepared to get a request to update it again.
if EZ-Robot's software is being updated several times a month, then that means its not going through a proper release cycle IMHO. Please tell me they arent following Agile! User's want stable software with patches IMHO, not piecemeal rolled out changes.
See, told ya it would digress.
There are multiple changes a month. They happen when the developer gets time to develop something that has been asked by someone in the community.
These do not follow a schedule per se. I may have missed some in there...
New Release 2015.04.04.00 New Release 2015.03.30.00 New Release 2015.03.07.00 Android/windows Release 2015.01.18.00 Android/windows Release 2015.01.11.00 Android Release 2015.01.08.00 Android/windows Release 2015.01.07.00 Android/windows Release 2015.01.05.00 Android/windows Release 2015.01.03.00 Android/windows Release 2014.12.23.00 Windows/android Release 2014.12.22.00 Windows/android Release 2014.12.20.00 Windows/android Release 2014.12.14.00 Android/windows Release 2014.12.09.00 Windows Release 2014.11.10.00
It has been my experience that the software is very stable. There have been very few times that an update has caused an issue or has caused something else to stop working. They have a great track record.
I can tell that you have been through the education system. I think that until you see issues with the development process from bugs being introduced or poor testing prior to release, the development patterns and project cycles shouldn't be questioned. Just speaking from 20+ years as a programmer and cleaning up a lot of things that were done by products of our comp sci education system. Most of the graduates from these systems I wont hire. I find the couple that actually worked on their projects and let the others who just rode the coat tails of these few good developers choke on the interview, and then send them on their way. I would say that I hire less than 1% of the people I interview because the other +99% understand the terminology but can't apply it. This isn't a bash on you, but if you are one of the few good ones, you will understand what I am talking about.
I would echo everything David just said.
"if EZ-Robot's software is being updated several times a month, then that means its not going through a proper release cycle IMHO. Please tell me they aren't following Agile! User's want stable software with patches IMHO, not piecemeal rolled out changes."
This one really gets me. Do you have anything that backs up your idea that ARC does "piecemeal rolled out changes" or is it an assumption that you are making based on your education background? I am not trying to argue here, just trying to see what the basis of the statement is because I can assure you that adding new features to a product on a very frequent basis doesn't demonstrate shotty code or piecemeal changes. It shows how modular the system is and how new features can be added without hurting other features. It demonstrates the passion that the owner of a company has to keep improving the product through frequent updates. If it were piecemeal, you would see a lot of issues with the software which hasn't been the case at all.
Just wondering what the basis for the statement is. Let us know.