[technoL]

Although I do agree with the importance of software rising in FIRST, I do disagree with extending autonomous. Making the autonomous challenges harder and worth more will inspire better software, not just allowing more time, or making it easy to score.

Many teams already disregard autonomous all together because it is too difficult, and they rather make up for it by making an efficient robot, or at least putting more time into their robot and not wasting* time on things that that have no clue how to do.

Being forced to watch an extra 5-10 seconds of a robot beauty contest doesn't benefit anyone but the teams that are already strong in autonomous. It has been a very rare occasion that I have seen a tube dropped immediately after autonomous, if the robot moves at all. And if you're just a spectator brand new to FIRST, it can be the most boring part.

I do like the way that Vex is setup though. Perhaps it could be a bonus to your score (not required) to complete an extra autonomous challenge on a separate field, or during another time of the day.

-No L

*in no way do I mean that software is a waste of time, although it can be if you have no clue of what you are doing