Rule H10 states no peeking over the alliance station. Do you think this rule applies to look at the large event screen? If standing in the back corner of the alliance station, would the screen even be visible? Just a thought.
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If I had to guess, a rule update sometime before competition will fix this. Especially since some competitions I’ve been to have had the main screen behind one side of the field, so it would only be a beneficial thing for the alliance standing right in front of it. Someone should ask in the Q/A tho when it opens on Wednesday. (I would, but I’m not affiliated with a team right now)
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I expect this will come up in the Q&A site later this week. Regardless, it’s likely that the view from that camera is going to be supremely difficult to drive from. It’s normally from above the stands and if you’re working on the opposite side of the Cargo Ship you will have zero visibility.
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This would also mean MCs will not be allowed to speak during the sandstorm either.
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Interesting observation. From a crowd engagement perspective, I can’t see that being how they’re operated. In reality, it’s like the jumbo screen… it will tell you what’s happening but not really offer cues to drive off of.
I disagree that the MC speaking wouldn’t be useful. they have a different view, and so might mention that a team is close but not right on, and I could use that info to back up and re try a line up if I can’t tell from my camera’s view.
I think it’ll likely be to the Referee’s discretion based on if a driver appears to be looking at the screen for any significant period of time and driving during the SANDSTORM.
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What about the reality tall drivers station cameras some teams made for stronghold? I don’t recall reading anything in the rules about it not being allowed, and we have a precedent for it.
At the events I’ve been to, the latency between reality and what’s on the big screen has been on the order of 500-1000ms. That’s a lot of latency between what your thumb is doing and the expected result.
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6’ 6" is the exact height of the driver station wall is it not? So in other words you could build something that tall but still wouldn’t be able to see over the screen.
Yes. The best view you could get would still be too high to see the other alliance station.
As a former driver, I think you guys might be overestimating the usefulness of the audience screen for driving a robot blind, even on a large screen, the resolution isn’t usually fine enough for any sort of detailed control (you might be able to figure out if you’re all the way off the starting platform but that’s about it). 
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That’s an interesting point, and one that I’m sure will be addressed by Blair’s pre-competition GA/MC calls if it’s not asked in Q&A by then.
In my opinion, while it may provide some relevant info on what’s happening on the field, I’m not sure it’ll be any more useful than an onboard camera. And teams without a camera probably won’t be doing anything that a GA’s play-by-play would theoretically assist with anyway.
What needs to be asked in the q&a is to define “look”
This section states you can bring non powered signaling devices. So the question is what are the limitations of what falls under that.
That’s true, but being able to watch “auto” on the large screen also ensures that you’ll have your bearings once the sandstorm ends, while the other alliance will take a few seconds to reorient themselves.
mirrors to look at the screen
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Nice try, I’ll give you that. The question is where are the people with said devices going to be able to see the field from without running across H13, H9, H6, or H10?
Of course, none of us have seen a match played yet… for all we know FIRST is going to have some sort of animation that plays during the sandstorm, keeping the field completely off the screen. Then it just comes down to the MC’s having to be careful about what they say.