there is nowhere in the rules that says that we can not use an ultrasonic sensor, but I am wondering if we can or not. We are thinking of using it for autonomous mode to tell how close we are to other robots. we could also use it for teleop mode so we can tell how close we are to the other robots so we can put our robot into effect.
Thanks,
Pneumaticsman
Read R02. Specifically part C.
It doesn’t say you can’t. In fact it states that robots can’t have anything that would interfere with your sonar. I’m not an official, but I say go for it.
If you look at the programming documentation it gives examples for ultrasonic sensors, so I do belive that it is leagal.
A reasonable ultrasonic sensor seems legal to me. One that puts out 250 watts of acoustic energy might be frowned upon (and attract dogs for dozens of miles around) but a maxbotix or Ping or similar sensor should be fine.
Of course, if you are unsure of the rules, the only official answer comes form the GDC.
I remember a team at the Florida regional using an ultrasonic sensor quite successfully last year. So unless the rules have changed on the sensor since last year, it should be legal.
My team actually used three ultrasonic sensors last year (one on each side of the robot except the back). We ran into no trouble with the rules and the judges were fine with them. I would say use them.
They also give examples for using the serial port, which is illegal per <R66> and <R67> and this Q/A http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=11567. You shouldn’t imply the legality of something based on the the examples that NI and WPI developed before the rules were written.
That being said, I agree that there isn’t anything that makes them illegal, as long as you follow <R02>.
I was referencing the official FIRST programming documentation prepared by WPI not the documentation provided by the development environment.