Thread: Laser Pointer on Bot for alignment only: Legal or illegal?
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Unread 21-02-2010, 22:28
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gblake gblake is offline
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Re: Laser Pointer on Bot for alignment only: Legal or illegal?
I have to reiterate what dtengineering said. Just fashion a mechanical "sight". Sheesh.

How is this any more complicated than using a good old #2 pencil to draw (or a rusty nail to scratch) two small dots/lines on the frame of the bot and then lining them up with a 3rd spot (on the field or venue) each time you set the robot down on the field?

Use as many pencil marks as you like in order to make use of as many reference points as you like.

If you care to, use colored pens to create sets of alignment marks for each 3rd of the field, and for red and blue alliance possibilities.

I dare say that I think that the accuracy you will get out of sighting along a few widely spaced reference marks on the bot will equal or exceed anything you could get from trying to connect a wiggly little pointer (with loosely installed guts) tightly enough to the bot's frame to be able to stay aligned after the pounding of a few matches.

Blake
PS: A team that really wants to create a really sexy set of sights will solder/expoy together a few tiny metal tubes (pointing in different directions) gotten from their local hobby shop, and will and attach them to their bot, instead of using mere pencil marks.
PPS: Please pardon me in advance if this message seems to be uninspiring - There is a time for being inspired to use lasers, and a time for remembering and appreciating the simple elegance of a Kentucky long rifle. This seems to call for the latter.
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Last edited by gblake : 21-02-2010 at 23:15.