Rule G05 and Autonomous

[Mark McLeod]

There are a lot of problems with the "move it after it's on" approach, and we can't be doing it.

The field will not wait for your robot to boot, then allow extra time for you to move your robot around.
That goes for positioning by encoders/cameras/gyro or anything that demands you wait for the robot to finish booting and connecting with the field before getting on with life.
The goal is to start the match the moment all robots are connected to the field.
Taking one minute more than absolutely necessary adds an hour to the length of a single event day.

We will be told when we can power-up/power-down our robots, we do not get to choose.
We are always told to start the robot after it's been placed on the field for safety reasons.
Occasionally, the FTA has the discretion to direct us to start the robot before coming onto the field, but that's for FTA reasons, not team reasons.

It's

1. get the robot on the field
2. turn it on
3. position it (if you have a gyro you have to position, then turn on, so it's especially important for teams with gyros to be able to position quicker than anyone else)
4. load frisbees
5. get off the field

All should be accomplished BEFORE the robot completes booting.

If there is a problem getting all the robots to connect with the field, then robots will be turned off and back on again, and you do NOT get extra time to re-position your robot to re-prepare your encoders.

Last year our drivers wanted to use the camera feedback to position our robot, but it really didn't work out.
The camera doesn't boot all that quickly, and when there was any issue that caused us to connect slowly or be restarted, then the camera image only appeared after we were all off the field and behind the lexan. The match typically started a moment after we saw the camera image on our driver station.