[Tristan Lall]

This seems potentially useful, but (if implemented like the Acroname device) it's quite likely illegal by FIRST's 2005 rules. ("Custom circuits may not...[d]irectly affect any output devices on the robot, such as by providing power directly to a motor, supplying a PWM signal to a speed controller or supplying a control signal to a relay module.") Maybe, depending on the exact implementation, you could convince the RC and Victor to simulate this functionality without contravening the rules, but you'd still need a custom circuit for sensing, and you'd have to hope that the standard controls could respond quickly enough—which may be a sticking point.

So if people want it, they'd better ask FIRST for the appropriate rule change at the earliest possible opportunity, so that <R53> doesn't get grandfathered into 2006—or instead, get IFI build it, and add to add it to the controls portion of the kit.