Heads up!

[Billfred]

Okay, so we all know that having some LEDs with your OI can really be helpful for knowing key elements of your robot.

The one problem I can see with such a setup on the control board is the fact that it's on the control board, which requires you to look down to discern the data.

This would lead one to think of a heads-up display, one that would let the information be broadcast to the driver(s) in the same spot all the time, regardless of where their head is pointed. However, FIRST tends to frown upon things that block a person's field of vision.

So, how could this sort of information be presented such that you could see the information while not losing your vision?

(The best I could come up with is a hat/helmet with the data on the very edge of vision, hanging from some sort of brim. Thoughts?)

[Jeff Rodriguez]

If I remember correctly, a team in the past few years has done this. They put small LEDs on the sides of their safety glasses. When the LEDs went on, the driver could see the light with his peripheral vision. It was pretty neat.
I don't know what team it was, or if they continue to do it.
I also think having a cord hanging from your glasses/hat/whatever would be annoying when you turn your head quickly.

[Aaron Lussier]

My team always had the idea of a pair of saftey glasses with LED's on the very edge of the drivers vision. One year they were going to light up when we were grabbing a goal, another year they were going to show that the robot was balanced but we never got around to working on them.

-Aaron

[Max Lobovsky]

it kind of depends on the field next year, but you might be able to reflect something off the glass (plastic) barrier in front of you if you project it from a sharp enough angle. That would be a true HUD (I believe that is the same technique they use in planes).

[Ryan F.]

Originally Posted by Max Lobovsky

it kind of depends on the field next year, but you might be able to reflect something off the glass (plastic) barrier in front of you if you project it from a sharp enough angle. That would be a true HUD (I believe that is the same technique they use in planes).

Exactly...though I would really wonder about the need of such a system. Sure it would be nice, but the usefulness of a Heads Up display wouldn't exist for most teams who only check the LED's if something is wrong. At that point, you have more problems than watching both the robot and LED's at the same time.
[edit]
Nevermind.....I realized your talking about adding LED's to the system.

[Billfred]

I actually thought of somehow projecting data onto the glass, assuming next year's field permitted it. (Given that FIRST has recycled its fields a few times, I see no reason why it wouldn't.)

The only two problems I could think of were cost and Atlanta. Cost is a big thing--it's not easy to project that sort of thing onto the glass without a $?,000 projector. With just the LEDs, you have to know what each of them mean.

Atlanta was the other dilemma. If you were at the Georgia Dome, you know how bright it could get in there. I'm afraid that lights like this would get drowned out by the ambient light in the arena. I don't think it would be nearly as bad at the darker regionals (such as Palmetto).

[dachickindapit]

Originally Posted by Billfred

The one problem I can see with such a setup on the control board is the fact that it's on the control board, which requires you to look down to discern the data.

This would lead one to think of a heads-up display, one that would let the information be broadcast to the driver(s) in the same spot all the time, regardless of where their head is pointed. However, FIRST tends to frown upon things that block a person's field of vision.

So, how could this sort of information be presented such that you could see the information while not losing your vision?

(The best I could come up with is a hat/helmet with the data on the very edge of vision, hanging from some sort of brim. Thoughts?)

Team 67 used this idea in 2003. We designed clips to attach to the hats/visors that our drivers wore to each match, and these clips housed LEDs. Yes, the wire hanging down annoyed them, but we made the wires long enough that the drivers could put them over their shoulders and not be hindered by them. We were a stacking robot, and we used the LEDs to tell when we could raise the box or boxes we had collected to continue to stack.

One suggestion: if you're going to make something that isn't firmly attached to the control station, you should be in charge of its location. If other people are involved, things tend to be forgotten and/or lost...be warned

[Billfred]

Yeah, I suppose that would be an issue at the end of a match.

I guess we could go Xbox style, slip some quick disconnect in there. One good jerk, and nothing happens.

Or come up with a way to use wifi for the LED outputs. (chortle)

[Josh Hambright]

Originally Posted by dachickindapit

Team 67 used this idea in 2003. We designed clips to attach to the hats/visors that our drivers wore to each match, and these clips housed LEDs. Yes, the wire hanging down annoyed them, but we made the wires long enough that the drivers could put them over their shoulders and not be hindered by them. We were a stacking robot, and we used the LEDs to tell when we could raise the box or boxes we had collected to continue to stack.

461 Did something very similar in 2003. We had Different color LED's on the sides of our saftey glasses which lit up or blinked depending on certain things going on with the robot. We eventualy abandoned the idea after a few regionals because we didn't like having to plug them in as fast as we could when we were able to touch the controls. However they were very useful and we had a different set of display options for operator and driver.

[dachickindapit]

Our drivers were generally pretty cooperative regarding plugging and unplugging the LEDs. At the end of the match when they had to retrieve the robot, they would just pull the clips off their hats and throw them on the control station. We stuck with the idea all year, but we did have to troubleshoot the code and some of the mechanical stuff when we found out how they actually worked in competition. We used a quick disconnect system that didn't get pulled out easily, so we never had that problem. I don't remember what they were called, sorry.

Regarding my comment about keeping control of your controls, I didn't mean coming back from the field. We made the mistake of letting the drivers keep them (at first), and many times at practices (and some Thursdays!) the clips were forgotten.

Overall, they worked out well and helped the drivers a lot -- I would put them on our controls again, if the game calls for it.