Ten Foot Pole behind the castle wall

[iggy_gim]

Has anyone tried using a camera mounted on top of a tall pole for improved visibility behind the castle wall? I saw it mentioned in the Q&A and was wondering if anyone found it useful? Furthermore, if one were to use said pole with camera, where who one put it? Would it have to be in front of the starting line?
Thanks

Link to Q&A thread

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by iggy_gim

Has anyone tried using a camera mounted on top of a tall pole for improved visibility behind the castle wall? I saw it mentioned in the Q&A and was wondering if anyone found it useful? Furthermore, if one were to use said pole with camera, where who one put it? Would it have to be in front of the starting line?
Thanks

Link to Q&A thread

4009 used this at Lake Superior this past weekend.

It was attached to their driver station equipment.

[iggy_gim]

4009 used this at Lake Superior this past weekend.

It was attached to their driver station equipment.

When you say attached, how so? Was it standing on the floor, attached via a pole to the operating console or was it fully supported by the Operating Console?

[macman828]

At Southfield FiM District a team had a display Monitor, with a 10ft PVC pipe with a camera on top. It sat on the Driver Station. The PVC pipe was solely attached to the display monitor.

[iggy_gim]

So would it be legal if the pole holding the camera was standing on the ground and not on top of the shelf that is provided for the operating console?

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by iggy_gim

When you say attached, how so? Was it standing on the floor, attached via a pole to the operating console or was it fully supported by the Operating Console?

Im not sure how they attached it but it was on the operators console it was not on the floor.

[echin]

3467 used one at GSD. We found it useful for seeing the robot behind the various high defenses, particularly the drawbridge and sally port. In most situations, it wasn't necessary, but it was quite helpful when we needed it. We made a fixture on the side of our driver console for the pole and it stayed in place for the entire match. The pole was made out of a telescoping tripod leg, which made it relatively easy to transport and adjust.

[JohnFogarty]

We're using a 3rd Person view camera on our DS this weekend at Orlando.

[JR0405]

R94 The OPERATOR CONSOLE must not exceed 60 in. long by 14 in. deep (excluding any items that are held or worn by the DRIVERS during the MATCH).

Unless you have a long pole attached to one of your drivers back, which would not only give you a bad view but be totally unsafe, the pole would have to be inside these measurements on the shelf.

[Stappy]

We asked if our drive coach could use a pair of binoculars to see our lift mech and were told no we could not as it would give an unfair advantage to our team. So we asked about the other team with the 10 ft pole and camera. We were told that was legal since it was attached to the driver station. I guess the assumption was it was attached by a cable because I swear I saw the pole sitting on the ground inside an orange traffic cone.

[M. Mellott]

Originally Posted by Stappy

We asked if our drive coach could use a pair of binoculars to see our lift mech and were told no we could not as it would give an unfair advantage to our team. So we asked about the other team with the 10 ft pole and camera. We were told that was legal since it was attached to the driver station. I guess the assumption was it was attached by a cable because I swear I saw the pole sitting on the ground inside an orange traffic cone.

So if those binoculars were mounted on a mini tripod set at the height of your drive coach, and the tripod was attached to the DS via a tether, bracket, etc., then it seems as though that would make them legal, right?

EDIT: Probably be better for one of the drive team to use the binoculars, since the drive coach cannot touch the DS.

[hardcopi]

We chose a 180 camera and shoot camera, gives us pretty good visibility. We make our driver practice with his back to the field driving just by instrument.

[Landonh12]

364 here - we asked this question on the QA.

We are doing this. We are mounting a 9 foot pole to our driver station. There is a socket for the pole to be driven into the driver station and we will secure it with a pin-lock.

Here is an image: http://i.imgur.com/YOI3awp.jpg

[Ryan_Todd]

We ran a bird's eye camera on our driver station for a couple matches this past weekend, by fitting the base of a telescoping pole into a matching hole on our driver station and stabilizing it with a velcro strap around a permanently installed brace. (We actually designed rev.1 of the system last year, but never ended up needing it.)

Anyways, it turns out that the "Camera High Atop Of a Stick" (CHAOS) development team didn't put enough thought into the placement of the monitor on the DS, or the camera's field of view for that matter; the drivers reported that CHAOS wasn't actually at all helpful in its current configuration. We'll see whether or not they end up revising it for Troy...

[Rook42]

We (3647) brought a pole and tripod to the San Diego regionals, didn't realize it had to be attached to the driver station. Team 2485 had one that was supported by the driver station and not in contact with the ground that they were allowed to use. I think it offers a pretty decent strategic advantage, especially when crossing defenses from the opponents courtyard into the neutral zone and for lining up a scaling mechanism if you don't have a spy.