Originally Posted by ToddF

Precision. To make an accurate long distance shot, the yaw angle must be controlled very precisely. During concepting, we knew we could design and fabricate a turret which could mechanically aim very precisely. We suspected that control of the shooter yaw angle via the drivetrain might not be very precise. The software can be written so the vision system can set shooter yaw angle by controlling either the drive train or the turret. We decided to go ahead and built a turret as a reasonable response to reducing technical risk. If it turns out that yaw control of the robot gives us everything we need, we'll keep the turret locked and only use the drive train. On the other hand, if the drive train is unable to position the shooter precisely enough, we have the turret actuator to fall back on, even if it doesn't rotate a full 360 degrees.

If, by some miracle, the computer runs fast enough, and the software is good enough, it is conceivable that we could keep the shooter locked on the target with an accurate "firing solution" such that we just drive around picking up balls and firing them continuously through the hoop, on the move. Can't do that without a turret.