Lap counted when lap indicator crosses line?
 

I haven't seen a field in person yet, and I doubt the remote fields were built to competition specs., so I'm not sure if many folks are qualified to answer this.

I'm curious if the lap indicator's communication with the field hardware will be the only metric used to determine if a lap has been completed and how things like line of sight might interfere with that device.

Also, it makes me wonder if there's some advantage -- if ever so slight -- to mounting your flag pole and lap indicator nearest to the "front" edge of the robot, as it might be such that the lap indicator, not the entire robot, must pass through the plane of the finish line to register with the field.

Re: Lap counted when lap indicator crosses line?
 

Our electrical team is also having some of the same questions.
These Answers will affect our design.

Re: Lap counted when lap indicator crosses line?
 

Regardless of how the electronics work, the rules state that you don't get the points until every part of your robot has crossed the given line...and that's why there are people to watch

Re: Lap counted when lap indicator crosses line?
 

I also do not know if I completely trust the lap counters yet, I know that our scouting team will be counting every lap for each robot, and what if our count differs, are there ways for us to speak with the refs? or will they also have people manually counting?

Re: Lap counted when lap indicator crosses line?
 

FIRST will probably being giving us a little more detail on how the lap counters work, and the true measure will not happen until the first practice match, official or unofficial.

I could see moving your lap counter back and forth under the fnish line without completely leaving your home stretch and racking up the points.

My guess is that you can not get a second lap until the computor sees that you cross the opponents finish line (Hybrid Period aside).

Re: Lap counted when lap indicator crosses line?
 

Several other forms of racing use transponders in conjunction with a buried wire to record laps and times. The wire could easily be placed under the carpet.

Re: Lap counted when lap indicator crosses line?
 

It really doesn't matter. The entire robot must have crossed the line for the lap to count. At the end of the game the refs will decide whether or not that last tick counts, based on the position of the robot.

During Hybrid, I'm sure there will have to be human counters, certainly for crossing the lane divider lines.