Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy A.
I'd be happiest if they just did away with the whole thing. Making it longer just means more time spent watching robots do nothing or stalled against a barrier. I've never understood the purpose behind the autonomous period.
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Without the autonomous period, our "robots" would really be giant RC cars. By definition, a robot has to be able to autonomously sense and react to the environment around it.
I would love to see a longer autonomous period (between 20-30 seconds). With a greater emphasis placed on autonomous mode, teams will be forced to attempt something in autonomous if they want to be successful. Just look at FTC/FVC robots, which have much longer autonomous period than FRC. Most of these Vex robots have amazing autonomous modes. (Sure, there are other factors at play, but anyone can test autonomous algorithms for their FRC robot on a Vex robot.)
This year, autonomous was unfairly weighed so low as to be judged by many teams as being not worth the effort. If autonomous is made longer, and the stakes (point bonuses) raised even higher, you'll see a lot more active robots on the playing field during those opening seconds of the match.