Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
Proximity sensors and light sensors are two common proposed solutions.
Personally, I don't see what's wrong with a photo finish here. Yes, "instant replay" is a dirty word, but it would clearly be the best.
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1.) Proximity sensors may work, yet are subject to calibration and vibration for a single data point. If you're using the difference of two data points, you still have to either increase sampling rate or # of sample to prevent false positives. Thus, changing to proximity sensors could pose the same issues/risks of the current system, which means there's no reason to change to proximity sensors.
2.) Light sensors are subject to noise and calibration. These may work better than proximity sensors since the noise is most likely easy to isolate, yet the tolerances in spacing would have to be tight to ensure even the slightest movement of the plate triggers the sensor. The designers simply may not have the time to implement something so quickly across all of the regional events for this week or even next week. This one seems the most feasible to me from a technical perspective though.
3.) Any instant replay sets a dangerous precedent. There will always be those who make assumptions based upon what's happened before, regardless of what's stated in the manual and regardless of what's talked about at driver meetings. I think FIRST just doesn't want to go there unless there's more thought put into it. That desire is reasonable in the longer term just to simply avoid stress during competition. Yet assuming a photo finish for 1 specific aspect of every game could probably also open up the types of activities we'd perform in future games. So I'm with you on this one ... subject to that caveat.