I honestly don't think this is as big of a problem as it is being made out to be. So far as I could tell at Pittsburgh, the sensors were pretty darn reliable. The only times they did not trigger it seemed like 1 of these 3 were the causes:
1.) Hit the bolt
2.) Did not hit with enough force (like, creeped up really really slowly with the wheels slipping)
3.) Turned off / reversed immediately after hitting the bottom plate without pushing much at all
If your minibot avoids all those 3 things and are still getting false negatives during the practice day at Week 3's: talk to a FTA. They will help you work out whats going on. I think the practice day will be plenty of time to sort through those 3 issues and any others that come up. Like I posted before, the triggers are really simple, there are only a few possible causes for them not to go, so I really don't think it will be necessary to hit in an exact spot, other than not bolt, or with a super specific force or time (or tap out morse code
)
Now, I must say that I am never crazy about automated scoring systems. I wouldn't have designed a minibot race at all because of how hard it is to score without some automation. However, this is the game thats been given to us and you can see my earlier posts about why I think that the automated scoring is necessary given this game. And only because I believe the automated scoring system is necessary am I advocating for teams to take whatever steps necessary to make sure they can trigger the setup.
But still, my gut instincts say that if those 3 little things are avoided, this whole thing will just not be an issue.