[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Ricksta121

Isnt this illegal? (alternate power source?)

It is legal as long as it is drawing power from the +12V or +7 V batteries allowed on the robot (with a 20A or 30A breaker). A fairly simple regulator circuit can be built if it needs a different voltage. The camera cannot transmit (wireless) at 900 MHz or to the driver's station. Technically, it is a custom circuit.

I really think this is great! If the camera had a wider angle (even "fisheye") lens, you could have a better view of other robots approaching or more of the field, crowd, ...

If a wireless camera (at some frequency other than 900 MHz) were used, some really awesome video could be fed to webcast, TV, etc. When FIRST starts producing televised coverage of matches for a broader spectator audience, these sorts of on-board camera views will be very popular. NASCAR has cameras inside the race cars with pan controlled externally. Whenever there's a crash involving a car equipped with one of these cameras, it is replayed. Sometimes the video transmission is interrupted at the moment of impact, which can make the viewer "feel" the crash. I viewed a couple of these clips and get more or less the same sensation.