Could my team just aim a flashlight at the high goal, and when the reflective strips light up, we know to shoot. Is there any rule against this?
I know teams have done this in the past with games such as “Rebound Rumble.” Team 180 was pretty well known for using the method of “flashlight aiming” and made it really far in the tournament. I think you just have to make sure that the power source is from the robot and not a separate type of thing.
If by far you mean finalist in Orlando, winning South Florida, winning Galileo and then winning Einstein then yes they made it really far lol.
It has actually been referred to as a Photon Canon, and yes it has to have it’s power come from the robot battery.
I believe team 33 used a flashlight on their robot in 2014. Plus there is a part in the robot section in the game manual that talks about what kind of lights you can use.
Have any other teams used this technique?
What section of the manual exactly? A ctrl+f for “light” turned no results…
I thought it said more about lights but it talks about which class lasers you can have and I’m not sure if flashlights are classified as Class 1 lasers or are even classified as lasers. So I don’t know if “D.” has any relations to what we are talking about.
Examples of items that will violate R9 include (but are not limited to):
R9 ROBOT parts shall not be made from hazardous materials, be unsafe, cause an unsafe condition,
or interfere with the operation of other ROBOTS
…D. Exposed lasers other than Class I. …
A Class 1 laser is safe under all conditions of normal use. This means the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) cannot be exceeded when viewing a laser with the naked eye or with the aid of typical magnifying optics (e.g. telescope or microscope). To verify compliance, the standard specifies the aperture and distance corresponding to the naked eye, a typical telescope viewing a collimated beam, and a typical microscope viewing a divergent beam. It is important to realize that certain lasers classified as Class 1 may still pose a hazard when viewed with a telescope or microscope of sufficiently large aperture. For example, a high-power laser with a very large collimated beam or very highly divergent beam may be classified as Class 1 if the power that passes through the apertures defined in the standard is less than the AEL for Class 1; however, an unsafe power level may be collected by a magnifying optic with larger aperture.
Basically, if it makes you go blind when you aim it at your eyes from a distance, then it’s not class 1.
So, a flashlight would be ok, as long as it’s not blinding.
Basically you can use a flashlight as long as it isn’t used to hinder the other alliances performance. Aka: Don’t shine it in other people’s eyes
25 who was 180’s partner at champs did, and my own team in 2013 (1523) used it at champs
What type of light is needed? How many lumens?
My team used one while I was in high school. Thiswas the one we used. We had to use a voltage converter to step down from 12 volts to like 3.3 volts if I remember correctly.
So the reflective tape is special. It’s called retro-reflective which means the light only bounces back to its source. If you want to use this for aiming you will probably need a camera because there isn’t a bright indicator from the driver station.
And if you use a camera, you don’t even need a very bright light. You can use the led rings that came with the old axis cameras. They work very well.
The video for this match from 2012 has some good shots showing how visible 25 and 180’s flashlights were when aimed at the goal: Finals 1 - Galileo Division 2012 - The Blue Alliance
Flashlights are not lasers.
Some LEDs are used to emit laser light, but plenty of other LEDs aren’t.
Manufacturers/importers who follow the USA’s rules must put a label(s) on any laser.
Many other countries have similar laws/regulations, but I wouldn’t bet my life that every country does (or that every manufacturer in the world obeys all the rules).
With that said, in typical situations, lasers aren’t used in ordinary flashlights.
Be careful/mindful of the aiming of said flashlight. When aimed at the ground or a target high enough in the air, you have a neat solution. If the light can potentially “blind” the drivers of the opponents or the refs standing next to the field, you may be asked to cover your light.
In 2013, I had to ask one team to stop using their light. It routinely blinded refs and during one hanging event, made it nearly impossible to see through the center driver station.
We used one in 2013 and it was very easy to see from the drivers station.
There have been many warnings to avoid blinding the Referees and the drivers from the opposing alliance. Only turning the flashlight on when you are lining up to shoot should take care of this. Not many Referees or drivers up in the top of the castle 
I believe Spectrum, team 3847, used a flashlight in 2014 to gauge where the ball would land when they fired it from their launcher (not 100% sure on that, so I would contact them about it).