LED lights (i know this subject is beat to death)

[NoRemorse]

Everyone was complaining about this year's beacons. I didn;t think they were as bad as everyone said. I mean, you should know who is on your team. But spectating it does get a little be difficult.

This is where my complaint comes in after veiwing all the photos.

I can not tell one team from another in ANY photos because the licklyhood of taking a picture when the lights are flashing are just soo slim. You can't tell who's who!

That's my biggest compaint, and I just thought I'd throw it out there!

[Mike M.]

I would have to agree with you on this one i liked the leds better than the rotating light because they take up less space and weight. The only major problem was that during matches and in the pictures you cannot tell which robots belong to which allinace. I think that an easy solution for this probem would be to have the leds stay lit all the time as opposed to just flashing every few seconds and possibly making them a little brighter so that they are more visible to the people in the audience.

but that is just my $0.02

Mike M.

[Marc P.]

I have a feeling the flashing was designed to grab the attention of drivers and operators. With a rotating light, it's obvious which robot is part of what alliance, since there is a rotating motion which can be tracked in peripheral vision relatively easily. If there is a constant light with no motion, you might overlook the color out of the corner of your eye. I think people are more likely to catch and recognize something moving in the corner of their eye than something stationary in the same position. I think this is especially true given the relative dimness of the LEDs compared to other objects on the field. The flashing created a motion much more easily seen out of the corner of your eye than a stationary color would.

[aaronbr28040]

I think that the ones that were to originally be included in the kit were much better and brighter. I read on the forums somewhere that it would have taken until after build season to get these assembled though. So the guys over at Innovation FIRST worked overtime to get the ones that we have put together and in the kits. I agree that they werent bright enough but the FIRST guys were in a pinch and had to take the best way out. They did pretty well in my opinion as they had to send out over 1000 kits of lights. One thing that I did like is the LED's dont use as much battery or space as the HUGE rotating light..............plus no changing covers. The FIRST crew will probably improve on the ones that we have this year and there wont as many complaints.
-Aaron