Re: Getting distance to the goal
 

I agree with this. Having a shooter that can target from anywhere means layers of complexity in additional motors, moving parts that can fail, and programming. While there are certainly some teams that can pull this off, most of us will do better with a simple and reliable design.

Re: Getting distance to the goal
 

I'll add that targeting can be accomplished visually with a flashlight and no programming, since we have retroreflective targets.

Re: Getting distance to the goal
 

A flashlight isn't the best option for illuminating the targets. To make effective use of the retroreflector tape, what you want is a very wide angle light source. In any case, requiring the driver to split his attention between the field and the video display might not be a good choice.

If you simply want to "paint" a bright spot on the goals, a flashlight is okay. Just keep in mind that the retroreflective border isn't going to do a good job of bouncing that light anywhere except directly back at the flashlight.