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Re: Bring Back the Rotating Light
The present LED's can be used by the IFI guys as an onfield diagnostics tool. The blinking rate will change based on the status of the robot, and a "trained" eye will be able to pick up the difference on the side of the field.
What the patterns are, how/why it changes, I have no idea (I'm not an IFI guy.) So, while FIRST states that these LED's are optional, they're still a very good tool to have on the robot. Because of this feature, I don't see the LED's going away any time soon.
Now, as far as my opinion goes, in retrospect I actually did like the visibility that the rotating lights gave. Did I like the extra volume, weight, and the fragility of them? No. However, we all need to make trade-offs with our robot designs, and work within the constrains of the rules. If they re-introduce the rotating lights, it'll just be another hiccup in our 6-week build. Which reminds me, I can't believe the amount of complaints people had over a 12" long piece of 1/2" PVC. (FIRST could probably go back to the Blue and Red team numbers and people would complain about having to do twice as much work to print our a number.)
As always, there is a forum at the end of the year which you can submit suggestions and ideas to. If you feel you have a better solution, please pass that along to FIRST. Your complaints, while they may be valid, aren't helping to solve the problem.
BEN
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