[stuart2054]

I agree with most of what is said here. It is a balancing act. The more your know about the various sensors and have experience in implementing them the better off you will probably be but poorly implemented they can be a detriment. Our team could use more experience with things like vision, gyros, encoders etc... and I am sure we would find more uses for them. I think the mechanical design, which by nature has to be first, drives the automation and what can be done to add effectiveness to the robot by sensors and programming to make the drivers job easier and automomous the most effective it can be within your skill set.

Growing your knowledge is tuff for many of us but always useful. My work experience has made me familiar with utrasonic range, photo detection and analalog principals but not with vision, gyros, encoders and the like. For our vision system last year I would have be lost without the white papers and Greg McKaskle posts on CD. You have to keep it simple but realize when you need more high tech solutions.