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Why Robot Overlord?

Dan Royer edited this page Oct 10, 2023 · 4 revisions

Developing robots and programming is not easy. Anything that makes it easier is a good thing. Some great ways to make it easier are:

Reduce the project management overhead.

Don't force developers to use a custom linux distro on a dedicated box. Make package management and pre-requisites as easy as possible.

Reduce the write-compile-run-test-repeat time

Waiting for compilation and program execution breaks concentration, which makes debugging much harder. Java throws away the compile button completely and often lets developers change code without restarting the app.

Reduce the problem surface

There are areas in your code where mistakes could happen. Make that area as small as possible and your search will be faster. By leveraging existing code written by others and building on top of it, you only have to worry about your robot. Not the graphics engine, not the GUI, just your specific robot stuff.

Reduce the learning curve

By having many examples availble for download through the "get more robots" system, it's easy to see how a robot similar to what you want has already been done and then make your modifications.

Reduce the obfuscation

Game engines like Unity do a wonderful job of making many things easier. But! They are opaque - you cannot see what is going on under the hood. This means you have no control, no power, and no clue. If something goes wrong you have to beg for help and hope someone eventually gets back to you, even if you have the skills to fix it yourself. Robot Overlord is open source so you can see - and fix - any part you want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW-SOdj4Kkk