[Steven Smith]

The way I see it you have a few levels of "autonomous" with increasing difficulty:

- A script (what the majority of autons are)
- Multiple scripts (pre-selected before match)
- Indirect input (Kinect, etc)
- Actual autonomous (decision trees, actually identifying objects on the field and making decisions based on that input)

Simply writing the script is hard enough for some teams, to get everything figured out on their robot well enough to consistently perform a given action. Maybe some teams do some error checking (is a ball loaded) to keep from destroying their robot, but in general... you're executing a series of commands blindly.

The better teams have a playbook, which they can play against their opponent's playbook or use in various situations. 1/2/3 ball auton, multiple locations, shot angles, goalie routines, etc.

Indirect input allows you to "trump" your opponent's playbook if they have a static script, by essentially playing your robot in real time against their more static script.

Actual autonomous mode only offers advantages over indirect input in the scenario where a computer can identify a situation and react better than a human.

I feel like the first 3 steps actually play out pretty well. Each step is incrementally harder and is incrementally more rewarding. It's a little awkward this year as you move from multiple scripts to indirect, because there really isn't THAT much additional work to develop it, and in situations it really can be a trump card.

My biggest hang-up is that there is basically no incentive to move to full auton. Like... watch the video of the Google car and automated driver, or any system that has really advanced sensors to detect objects, calculate trajectories, etc. I really think the evolution of FRC will include a lot more "driver assist" functions, like say an automated incoming ball tracker and catcher this year... or being able to identify a goalie pole and shoot around it. The level of effort to pull something like this off is immense though, and I don't feel like it would really dominate over an "indirect" input robot in auton mode.

So my only real beef (and why I voted no), is I feel the Kinect lessens the incentive to iterate toward full auton, but I don't feel like it really broke anything this season. I'd also be ok with keeping it legal for a season or two more, as teams push the boundary on auton, then weaning people off it, or giving extra incentive bonuses for auton without the Kinect (or any indirect input from the driver).