Position of tetras
 

are the tetras going to to be positioned the same way every time in the automatic loading zone? I was wondering because if not u have to go about programming your robot in a different way.

Re: Position of tetras
 

From http://www2.usfirst.org/2005comp/Sec...-The_Arena.pdf
The scoring objects are made of PVC and are expected to undergo extensive robot and person handling. They are likely to become misshapen and some edges may become slightly bent instead of straight. Because of a variety of environmental conditions at various competition sites, their resilience and durability are expected to vary. Slightly misshapen scoring objects are expected, and they are considered to be part of the game challenge.

I couldn't find where I read or heard this, but from what I know:
The field attendants will try to place them the same way each time but there may be slight variances in their positions.

Re: Position of tetras (auto-loaders)
 

You can see from the offical drawing of the two auto-loading stations HERE that the angle and distance of the tetra from the robot "should" be a very close "fixed" distance.

However, since the auto-loader stations are manually-filled by the field attendants (not your team), there may be some side-to-side alignment and registration issues.....But, my guess is that they'll be afir and load all tetras the same way.

Also, HERE a photo of the REAL competition-grade tetra loader that was taken a the 2005 kickoff