Bring Back the Rotating Light

[sanddrag]

Those LEDs are hardly visible at all. The flags are okay, but it they kind of look cheesey and they aren't bright and flashy. I know the plastic covers always broke, and they used power, and they took up weight and space, but I really miss those darn rotating lights. I don't think anything since has been as visible as those were. I say FIRST should bring them back. What do you say?

[George A.]

I concur wholeheartedly. Those things were a) awesome b) made identifying allainces easy and c) were awesome.

It's a shame that the last year (if memory serves me correctly) was 2001 where there were no "allainces" perse since all four teams were on the same team...and the only real people who needed to know which robot was which color were the refs/scorers.

[Rick TYler]

Just say no to police lights.

[sanddrag]

The last year of the rotating lights was 2003 when they got smashed on the field. But it was also a different light than 2002 and previous.

[Daniel Brim]

Honestly, I was not a huge fan of the rotating light because of how they broke. If they do bring it back, it should be with a tougher cover that won't crack (and in several cases shatter). Also, it would be better if it didn't count towards the weight limit.

[Cory]

don't bring it back. It's too big and weighs too much.

It was definitely easier to see though.

[Mike AA]

What about a bubble of LEDs say, 20-30 bi-color, red/blue. with a constant on controlled by the controller for which color it has. Simmilar to the LED this year but about 20 times brighter and constant on. I liked the visability of the rotating light but not the size nor weight. A bubble of LEDs would weigh probably around 4 ounces and would be highly visable and still small ( and cheap/inexpensive).

-Mike

[Katie Reynolds]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

I say FIRST should bring them back. What do you say?

I agree (I was just talking to a teammate about this, last weekend!) They were so much easier to see!

[Rich Wong]

Electro-Luminescent lamps maybe a solution.
They are flat, lite weight and flexible.

[Ben Lauer]

Personally, I don't know why they didn't just use flags in the first place. You can see them any angle, they don't cost you precious weight on the Robot, you don't have wire them, and they are very cheap to fix. Insert new PVC pipe here, apply zip-tie.

We spent too many hours in 2003 trying to figure out a way to get the rotating light to fold down so that we could go under the bar. That was a ridiculous waste of time (but it was cool!)

What did FIRST have those first 3-6 years? Was it always the light?

[Allison K]

This would be a wonderful thread for a poll.

Ranked...
1st choice - Flags (Pros of flags outwewigh the cheesiness)
2nd choice - Rotating lights (best visibility)
3rd choice - LED's

[J Flex 188]

Our entire robot's design could have potentially swung on whether or not we could have gotten that light to fold down! It was getting relatively late into the season and I remember we had to decide right then and there whether or not we would want to "limbo" as we called it. We managed to finagle that light onto a piece of surgical tubing and every time we ran headlong underneath the bar, the cover would hit full on, bounce down and come back up. It caused a grimace every time on my part, but if I remember correctly, we only had to replace them twice through the entire season. That robot went on to win WMR and finish 2nd at CR though. Maybe the light was a bonus?!

Originally Posted by Ben Lauer

Personally, I don't know why they didn't just use flags in the first place. You can see them any angle, they don't cost you precious weight on the Robot, you don't have wire them, and they are very cheap to fix. Insert new PVC pipe here, apply zip-tie.

We spent too many hours in 2003 trying to figure out a way to get the rotating light to fold down so that we could go under the bar. That was a ridiculous waste of time (but it was cool!)

What did FIRST have those first 3-6 years? Was it always the light?

[nuggetsyl]

i like the led because it does not weight as much

shaun

[Jack Jones]

Originally Posted by nuggetsyl

i like the led because it does not weight as much

shaun

So they make the weight limit 124 lb - problem solved.

From a refs point of view - having 6 robots out there and two with dislodged flags, makes it hard to know who's off-sides or not. The cost of a quality light is about one percent the cost of the average robot; and the light can be used year after year - so why we have those wimpy LEDs and projectile flags is beyond me!

[MikeDubreuil]

I'm going to say don't bring them back. Two reasons: weight and a uniform place to look to determine robot color. Weight is obvious. I found it much easier to just look above a robot to see its color rather than stare at a robot to see where they hid their team light. Teams were supposed to make their team light obvious from 4 sides, but we know how well that kind of rule is followed. The new flag system is great because their is an exact position for the flag.