Retroreflective Tape

[M.Kong-Sivert]

One of my goals for this year is to be able to track the retroreflective tape on the field, but my team has very little experience with sensors, so I would like to ask, specifically, what sort of sensor would I need in order to accomplish that. Thank you.

[engunneer]

the most direct method is with a camera and the ring light. you can do some image processing on the cRio to tell you where the tape is.

[Alan Anderson]

For detecting and interpreting the retroreflective targets, the only sensor I would suggest is a camera.

The wpilib.screenstepslive.com web site has a section on the 2014 FRC Control System. One of the links is all about Vision Processing. The provided example software supports several Axis cameras: 206, M1011, and M1013.

[DonRotolo]

The key to using a camera for this is knowing that the retroreflective tape will reflect light back to its source. Meaning you should put a light source on your robot near the camera.

You'll see that the tape reflects BIG, making it easy to track. The light doesn't need to be that bright.