Autonomous Mode Assumptions

[Ryan Meador]

I find this thread very interesting. I, too, have already wrestled with this problem, and I came up with all the solutions that have been suggested, but the one I decided upon is the one you all seem to be leaning away from: a button. It would be a non-momentary (is there a word for the opposite of momentary?) switch and the program would map the switch value to the auton_mode bit in the program. All it takes is a quick flip of the switch, and the robot will pop out of auton mode. I believe the concerns about the drivers' instincts being to reach for the joysticks are valid, but any sufficiently practiced driver (not to mention anyone that plays computer games) will have an easy time learning to push the button, just like they can fairly easily adapt to the way the robot handles when it's driving towards you.