On the contrary, I believe that the autonomous mode will make it even more interesting. Seeing the different strategies that teams develop in their autonomous mode (the programming is flexible enough to do several different strategic situations at least, I think some teams will have many different combinations of strategies) will add a new dimension to the game, and doing it int he first 15 seconds of the competition will make it important enough so that the code is a major factor in the outcome of the match will make it all the more thrilling. Chances are if your code is off a mere tenth of an inch, you are very well off, but I do see your point that code that is a few degrees off could send your robot crashing into a wall. Yes, teams that do not have programmers who are strong in PBASIC will be at a disadvantage (this is not just limited to rookie teams, I am on a rookie team and am a lot more comfortable in PBASIC than quite a few programmers on non-rookie teams). However, as Dean said, it is not 100% fair. I see it as an exciting addition to the competition and a new challenge that teams need to overcome. The strategy of the opening move is FAR from removed, it is just transferred from the drivers responsibility to the robots. Now the programmers have their work cut out for them just like the mechanical and electrical team members this year. It is a good bit more effort involved but I for one am up to the challenge and find it a wonderful addition to this competition. I believe that the autonomous part of the competition adds just as much excitement, challenge and could even provide comic relief this year. I believe that the benefits greatly outweigh the drawbacks, IMHO
now that I've put in my $0.02 (from the length looks more like 4
) lets hear it from the rest of you guys!
(btw this is coming from the perspecitve of lead programmer on a rookie team)