Visual Joystick - a full 2 axis, 4 button joystick during autonomous mode

[DjScribbles]

This is a cool feature, though I don't think the concerns over the sanctity of autonomous are really warranted.

In my opinion, autonomous programs are usually better at autonomous mode than people could ever be, which is why Hybrid mode was never really adopted by teams. Autonomous is generally constructed in a way where chaos is minimized, making time is the limiting factor, rather than adaptability.

Introducing capabilities to autonomous mode in a way that mimics operator control would not be an advantage in my opinion, the real power of these sorts of systems is in using human brains to fill the role of sensors which trigger certain pre-scripted actions.

Given the option, would you really want your driver to directly control your robot in autonomous mode?