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Originally Posted by ptrautwein
I agree that this autonomous mode is the thing that separates authentic programming with RC robots. I would like to see more autonomous time maybe up to 20 or 25 seconds.
Rookie Kits should get a Dongle. Yes it is simple to make, but Rookies are too busy catching up that they don't realize how important it is to be able to practice that autonomous code, and how to do it at home safely.
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First off, welcome to ChiefDelphi!
Moving on though, I agree with you in that the autonomous mode should be something meaningful. Also, a longer autonomous mode would be awesome, however, it all depends on the type of challenge that is being presented during the autonomous period.
I remember that at some of the 2005 off-season events which I attended, rarely any teams (if at all) used the ENTIRE 15 seconds of autonomous (usually it was only 10 seconds at max). And at kickoff this past year, when they announced that there whould be only a 10 second auto. mode in which the winning alliance won a ten point bonus AND was able to go into their defensive period first, many of us thought that 10 seconds was too short. But everyone took up the challenge, and it turned out to be a very viable time frame in which to either play defense, or drive towards the the goal, shoot and score. A large amount of teams created successful autonomous modes, and the autonomous period in Aim High turned out to be one of the most exciting (and crucial) periods of play.
So if there should be a 20-25 second auton. period, I believe that that task at hand should probably be more complex and take a longer time to complete.
I also agree with your idea to put a dongle into Rookie kits (or all kits if they want) because even though they are pretty easy to make, as you mentioned, many teams do not make them. I cannot tell you how many teams asked to borrow our dongle at the LV regional this year. But it would be a nice addition, and hopefully encourage more rookie teams who might not normally program their robot autonomously to do so.