Why have we not seen anything like the alignment lines since 2019? There does not seem to be an obvious reason for this. Yes, there is vision, but there was vision in 2019 too and tape on the carpet is not some significant cost addition. I can see that 2020 and 2022 being shooting games maybe did not need lines (although they could still have put them at the human players), but the Charged Up grid is practically made to have alignment lines with all of the scoring locations being in neat rows.
I get that the same can be done with vision and especially AprilTags provide better precision, but from an accessibility perspective the prospect of having an inexpensive solution that allows a low resource team to use a 20USD Rev color sensor instead of needing a significantly more expensive vision system seems like an obvious way to raise the floor.
What is the current price, in your area, for one roll of gaffer’s tape?
Each event will likely go through one roll just for the alignment lines. This doesn’t count any measuring devices, time to use said devices, and similar things.
For something that, to be honest, very few teams use due to the plethora of vision options.
I see teams use visual markers on the field all the time, especially in the first 3 weeks of comp when next to no one is on their second play (assuming they even have a second play). I doubt that is a regional difference.
Visions systems take time and resources to get ready, at the beginning of the season there are a lot of teams that don’t have tings fully working.
I could see teams using them if they were scoring on the other side of the field (and could see them past the charging station)… but when scoring right in front of you, I don’t see them getting much, if any, use this past year. Teams set up so they can score without moving, and for those teams going for a multi-score auto, they’re going to prefer vision over alignment lines almost every time.
$20 at Amazon and McMaster-Carr has several options.
White gaffer’s tape is likely to be used on some other part of the field as well, so it is not like this is a very specific item that needs to be sourced.
If we are talking about an alternative to AprilTag based methods, then gaffer’s tape is less expensive than retroreflective tape.
There are many vision options, yes, however the number of teams that will attempt this is likely smaller than those who would attempt to use floor lines. I am not saying that this is significant, but it is a factor.
I would be pretty surprised if this is the case. If I’m remembering correctly, 2019 had 24 scoring locations on the field, and I don’t remember if all of them had tape. That’s maybe 6-9 yards of tape at most, depending on the length of the markings, and we usually get 50-60 yard rolls. I don’t remember the alignment markings being subject to wear in 2019 either - maybe they were replaced 1-2x per event on average, but the tape lines around the hab had it worse.
For team practice use, a cheaper tape can be substituted fairly easily and still work with robust enough detection.
2023: maybe centered in front of each node. Particularly cone nodes. (The lines can be used for semi-autonomous placement routines too - a full autonomous routine in 2023 would likely need to rely on more than just lines.)
2022: Lines around the bottom of the hub. Could also put them at the Human Player. A not insignificant number of teams used the Human Player for a 5 ball auto and there were no vision targets there.
2020: Lines at the loading bays and power ports. There were zone markers, but the angle does not make them that useful for alignment.
Both of these options provide an alignment technique for teams scoring low and they are the ones least likely to be using vision.
Given the cost of the field, a roll of gaffers tape is a rounding error.
The lack of alignment lines could be to add to the challenge of the game or to force teams to use automation. Probable a question that only the GDC can answer. And don’t talk much