Easiest way to program autonomous?

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by Heber Hooper

We are running short on time and as a rookie team we need help with programming. Any help is great thanks.

Last year I was surprised at how few robots at two regionals even tried to do autonomous. You got a few points just by moving yourself into the auto zone, and this year's game is similar - if you can get yourself to reach a defense, you will earn points. Reaching a defense can be as simple as "drive forward 6 feet". This should not be beyond the grasp of any team.

The simplest way is something called dead reckoning. Your software just fires the motors blindly for a set amount of time. For example, if you fire the drive motors at, say, 50% speed for 1.5 seconds, your robot should travel X number of feet. I say "should" because you have no sensor feedback to confirm that the robot moved where you hoped it would. It's like driving blindfolded. But it's a starting point. Measure how far it actually travels and adjust the timing and power levels to hit the speed and distance that you want.