You mean...
You mean people actually did get to the wall before auto mode was shut off?
Our linetracking was way too slow. The new controller isn't going to help as much as to make a big difference in the total speed of the mode. Since this years line is mostly straight, however, if your drive doesn't arc, it should go somewhat faster than last years.
This year, we aren't using any sensory in auto mode, except for the current sensors, possibly, and a few small tidbits. We found last year that running a pre-programmed (or pre-driven) path without any error checking worked just fine, and this year it should work even better, since bots have a much lower chance of colliding before their destination.
Anyway, if you're going with linetracking, the code is very simple, and the sensory required isn't that much. If you want to improve your speed, here's a few tips:
*Use 3 banners, Left - Center - Right.
*Make sure your bot is almost always going forward. Here's a movement table:
LEFT. CENT. RGHT.
LEFT HL LL F
CENT LL F LR
RGHT F LR HR
Where: H = Hard, L = Light, R = Right, L = Left, and F = Forward
When no signal is present, I suggest you add in a small "buffer" into your program to look at the previous few seconds of input. If it sees that it had a signal on the right, and lost all signals, then it kows it needs to make a sharp sharp right. In all the movements, even hard turns, include a bit (25% or so at least) of forward motion. The only time you shouldn't go forward is when you lose the whole signal.
* Other sensory. The more sensory, the more data your bot has to compare against other data. Don't be afraid to add in other sensors in-combo to help you get where you're going. For example, someone who really wanted to be accurate in there path could use both the IR and Banner sensors to traingulate a better sense of positioning on the field. Gyros can be useful in calculating the robots position as well.
Look around, and check out your options.
Anyway, those are just a few things I remember we did and it helped quite a bit.