2011 Game Hint #1

[Mike o.]

Originally Posted by thefro526

Cameras have been in use since at least 2005, but the importance and use varied by the game.

2005 - Vision Tetra (Don't really know the purpose of the vision tetra, auto bonus?)
2006 - Above the High Goal, most often used for auto targeting.
2007 - Above every other Column on the Rack - Used for autonomous scoring.
2008 - No specific Camera Objective, though some teams did attempt to differentiate blue and red trackballs from one another.
2009 - Targets above Trailers, used for auto targeting
2010 - Targets above Goals, used for auto targeting
........

Some further notes about camera use. There was in fact no camera use in 2008. This was the year they had the IR receivers/transmitters and had the RoboCoach that could aid in controlling the robot during Hybrid (that year's autonomous) Period. Also, 2009 is when they introduced the new Camera (Axis 206 Camera) that allowed for a little more complexity than the old camera (CMUcam). During the 2010 game, the primary purpose of the camera was to track the large targets over the corner goals, but teams were also able to get visual feedback at the DS and possibly could use it to help them navigate (e.g., through the tunnels). I think that we will see that continuation of multipurpose use of the camera during the game, not just for use in autonomous for tracking something.

With everything that has been mentioned and discussed, I think that it will be interesting this year to see how the GDC has integrated the use of the camera into the game. I truly can't wait.