In the hopes of bringing some clarification regarding the origination and potential consequences of my "string theory," I would like to address a few of the things people have brought up and revise my suggestion somewhat.
Many posts have brought up the issue of potential
entanglement with the string and other robots (or even, potentially, one's own robot). This is no doubt a pressing concern. However, I think with proper choice of materials, this worry could be put to rest. I would recommend either of two materials to serve as the "string":
1) High-visibility, sturdy nylon/polyester/etc. rope such as
this.
2) Jump rope. High-visibility jump rope is easy to find. Both cord and segmented jump rope have potential.
Disclaimer: Only experiment can confirm or deny my suspicion that this sort of rope will pose minimal entanglement hazard.
I believe
Mr. LaFleur was the first to bring up the issue of
contact outside of the bumper zone. This does not, in and of itself, seem to be a major problem, as <G37> explicitly states that incidental contact will not be penalized. It is certainly the case that any contact with the rope and other robots will be incidental, as the rope is entirely passive.
QBranch was the first to mention that
better driving would negate the use for alternative solutions to avoiding <G22> penalties. I could not agree more, but I feel that this is perhaps an oversimplification. This year's game is, as always, an exciting and fast-paced 2-minute adventure designed to challenge our creativity and skill at designing, building, and driving a robot. The challenge of driving cannot be overstated. As per the OPR statistics that can be found
here. A number of teams have been on the receiving end of plenty of penalties. This is not meant to disparage anyone, because I have seen just how difficult it is to know where your robot is, relative to the lane-marker, when it is on the opposite side of the field and other robots are in the way. Clearly there are teams who might be seeking to reduce their <G22> infractions, but do not have a practice bot with which to improve their driving skill.
Mr. Tyler said:
Quote:
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Tying string on your robot is lawyering the game, in my opinion, and the time spent coming up with schemes like this might be more fruitfully spent learning to drive your robots in a way that did not violate <G22>.
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I respectfully disagree. Firstly, the rationale behind my "string theory" was to provide a back-up system that reduces penalties (good for everyone) and increases driver confidence (they are operating in a very high stress situation, after all). Secondly, the idea simply popped into my head the other day, it was not the result of hours of trying to find a way to weasel around the rules. I think it would be wise for everyone to recognize, however, that the situation on the field is often such that knowing if you have already crossed the lane marker on the opposite side of the field is very difficult. Driver skill is critical, but many teams have not had a great deal of practice driving their robots. Again, this was meant to provide a helpful buffer zone that would allow drivers to focus on more pressing matters than the exact location of their robot's back bumper.
In conclusion, much has been said thus far, but I believe no one has yet demonstrated, outright, the infeasibility of this idea. I hope some team out there tries it and finds it to be useful. Good luck teams!