Team Update #18

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

Can't the silly force triggers be replaced with light sensors or proximity switches?

That's exactly what I was thinking, but unfortunately it's too late now. Teams have already designed minibots with the pressure plate as a constraint, and played that way for two weeks.

If I'd designed the thing, I probably would have used a series of three or more sensors at the desired level, and used some logic to have them "vote". When a majority say you've reached a discrete position, you'd score. (And it would fail gracefully if it didn't work: a human could still judge the position visually, rather than have to estimate whether a switch was or was not tripped.)

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

Here's my issue: if they only specify a minimum, then how to you guarantee you trigger the sensor?

According to the logic embodied in the rules, you can't.