"arena field switches"

[reilly]

How exactly do the field switches work?

I'm not clear on exactly three things regarding the field switches: 1) how long does a robot need to remain on the colored switch;2)When-does the robot need to be on the switch( in what mode )? and 3) subsequently- how long after the robot has just left the switch can the robot roam?


Moreover, must we account for this when programming? If so is there default code available...

Cheers!

[Greg Needel]

i believe you are interpreting the rules incorrectly, the only "switches" that deal with real time play on the field are the human player mats in which case when a human player walks off of them their robot is disabled. the other zones for receiving tetras are just colored triangles on the field but don;t deactivate your robot or anything they are just the zone you have to be in to get a tetra. i hope this helps.

[reilly]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

i believe you are interpreting the rules incorrectly, the only "switches" that deal with real time play on the field are the human player mats in which case when a human player walks off of them their robot is disabled. the other zones for receiving tetras are just colored triangles on the field but don;t deactivate your robot or anything they are just the zone you have to be in to get a tetra. i hope this helps.

So, the robot meets the human player in the non-autonomous mode. Then..
--how do the human player switches operate with respect to the robot?

I do not understand the purpose of the colored tetras on the floor-are you saying that they are zones for receiving tetras--receiving from humans?

Thanks for your reply.

[Ryan Foley]

When a human player steps off of the pressure-sensitive mat they are standing on, that human player's robot is disabled until the human player steps back onto the mat.

The colored triangles are there so that the robot's vision system can find them during autonomous or during regular play. The triangles at the manual loading zones are there also so the human players can see that a robot wants a tetra (by being on the colored triangle). When the robot enters one of these triangles, the human player picks up a tetra, steps off the pad (disabling the robot) and gives the tetra to the robot, and goes back to the pad so the robot can be re-enabled and deliver the tetra to a goal.

[reilly]

Thank you Ryan and Greg for clearing things up a bit.

Also I would like to know the 'engineering aspect' of how it this is done: when a human player steps off of the pressure-sensitive mat they are standing on, that human player's robot is disabled until the human player steps back onto the mat.

Is there programming that should be done by the teams to accommodate the pressure sensitive switches?

I guess it should be obvious by now that I am not clear about how the robot is controlled by the pressure sensitive mat.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by reilly

Thank you Ryan and Greg for clearing things up a bit.

Also I would like to know the 'engineering aspect' of how it this is done: when a human player steps off of the pressure-sensitive mat they are standing on, that human player's robot is disabled until the human player steps back onto the mat.

Is there programming that should be done by the teams to accommodate the pressure sensitive switches?

I guess it should be obvious by now that I am not clear about how the robot is controlled by the pressure sensitive mat.

When the human player steps off the pressure switch, the field control software (not the software on your robot) will automatically cut communications between the operator control and the corresponding robot, and disable the robot. You don't need to do anything to the software on your robot.

-dave