Quote:
Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
The laser rules have been a bit of a mess in the past, but the general trend has been to prohibit them if exposed. ("Exposed" is ambiguous—exposed to what, when, and on purpose?)
|
It's clear to me that "exposed laser" means that the laser light itself can escape the assembly in which it is generated. A "laser ring gyro" which uses a sealed optical path would be permitted (as long as it satisfied all other rules, of course).
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricVanWyk
Optical Mice would not be legal by last years rules.
|
Which rule would rule them out?
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricVanWyk
We did some visual odometry using a pair of optical mice (chips) and different lenses a while back. We were only able to get it to work at fixed focal lengths - each length requiring a different lens. We were unable to get it to work with variable lengths, but I have to admit that optics isn't my strong suit.
|
The TechnoKats experiments with a "telephoto mouse" system showed early promise. We eventually found that the distance from sensor to carpet was a critical parameter, and a few millimeters of variation in height ruined the calibration between measured mouse motion and actual distance traveled. An FRC robot bounces enough while driving to make accurate odometry impractical.