How to know initial position on field in auto

Technical Programming
1

Hello

Usually when making my auto code, I know where exactly the robot starts because I can line it up with something on the driver station wall. However, since this year we have to start on a line with no walls to line up with, I have been trying to determine ways for the program to determine our starting location on the field so the auto program runs as intended

I basically want to be able to use trajectory tracking in order to set waypoints, but what I am wondering is if it doesn’t know exactly where the robot is starting l, the waypoints will not work as intended

-what are some ways people have overcome this obstacle in the past?

Thanks!

2

Find something else to line yourself up with. Maybe right on a wall, maybe you bring a stick out to hit a bumper edge to from a wall, maybe you line up a shooter motor that sticks up to the corner of the Shield Generator. 2016 had a lot of lining up with a defense so they would push the bot forward to see if it lined up, then pulled back onto the line.

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3

I think in 2018 971 had a riflescope on their robot so they could be precise in their alignment.

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https://www.chiefdelphi.com/t/strategy-for-squarely-lining-up-on-initiation-line
Some solutions here. .

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I have I a few ideas:

  1. Line the robot up with the same set of wheels on the line every time.
  2. Use a distance sensor in the corners of the robot facing the wall. When auton enables you could adjust to specific vale.
  3. Drivers might be allowed a tape measure on the field. I’m not sure.
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6

Nope. See H1.

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As long as it is not used during a match, H1 does not prohibit the use of a tape measure before the match.

C7 is a more applicable rule. The blue box under that rule explicitly allows this as long as it does not delay the match “a DRIVE TEAM could bring and use a measuring tape, as long as there is no delay to the MATCH by doing so”

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You could use the vision targets located on the field to determine your position.

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Or use the vision targets to make your initial position less important.

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Good spot. Guess I should not have been so definite in my answer, and guess I should have RTFM. I think this deserves a Q&A question, though, because both H1 and the C7 blue box are written confusingly. H1 says “the only things which can be brought to the ARENA and used during the MATCH are …”. This could mean items not listed are banned if they are either brought to the ARENA or used during the MATCH, or it could mean that both statements have to apply. Furthermore, the C7 blue box lists an apparent exception (measuring tape) to a example of violation of the rule (“using external measuring devices”).

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It seems that a tape measure would be allowed in H1 since it would fall under “E. devices used solely for planning or tracking strategy”

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My interpretation of that rule is that it applies to whiteboards, markers, notebooks, etc. A tape measure has the function of aligning the robot on the field; it’s not a strategic device.

To be clear, I’d like for tape measures to be legal, but I’d like for them to be explicitly and clearly legal.

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If I recall correctly, the same sort of rule has existed for many years and tape measures have been allowed in the past. It is good to check with the Q&A, of course.

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