RE: Initial setup for competition

[Kevin_Boenisch]

From the official answers thread:

Hi there. I’m a first time mentor (and teacher) for my school’s first VEX Robotics team. We are set for our first VEX Toss-Up qualifying event in Mississauga, Ontario on Feb 22nd. I’ve searched various threads for two questions I have but have yet found nothing. If someone could steer me in the right direction please:

In the robotc competition template, we have the following three lines:

#pragma competitionControl(Competition)
#pragma autonomousDuration(20)
#pragma useControlDuraction(120)

Are “20” and “120” the correct time lenghts to use for this competition?

The second question: how can we TEST our autonomous programs? We have 8 different autonomous scenarios…

Thank you.

The times in the template do not matter, and you shouldn’t change the template parameters. The field control will automatically start and stop the auton and driver. I believe the times are just a safety so it ends after sometime even if not plugged in to field control.

If you have 8 different autonomous, you might want to make some sort of selection system so you can choose them before a match and not need to download each routine before a match. To start and stop it within the template you will need a field control simulator:

VEXnet Competition Switch

We’ll be at the Rick Hansen competition as well, so if you have any questions or need to borrow a field control feel free to drop by our pits (472A) and I’ll try my best to help.

[jpearman]

Just to add

#pragma autonomousDuration(20)
#pragma useControlDuraction(120)

These are not used at all with the cortex and VEXnet, they are remnants of the old crystal radio control. I usually delete them so as not to cause confusion.

#pragma competitionControl(Competition)

This changes the download to “competition” in the “Robot->Vex communication mode” menu automatically.

[Kevin_Boenisch]

@jpearman

Just to add

These are not used at all with the cortex and VEXnet, they are remnants of the old crystal radio control. I usually delete them so as not to cause confusion.

Ah, thanks! I wasn’t quite sure what they’re for.

[Inspector_Gadget]

@Kevin_Team472

To start and stop it within the template you will need a field control simulator:
VEXnet Competition Switch - VEX Robotics

I also program an unused button (7L) to run the autonomous mode that is selected so that I can run it as a test whenever, and I turn the controller off to abort any autonomous, any time (including during a match).

At our last competition we had one of our alliance members program their autonomous to just go forward and push the big balls into the other alliances robot and disrupt their auton. they then made sure that when their robot was about to enter the opposing starting tile they turned their cortex off to prevent the robot from being DQ’d. The head judge there said it was legal, and it made us win autonomous. Karthik, if you read this, please clarify.

[Yoder]

I believe karthik recently ruled that this was only legal if the robot presented a danger because of its autonomous routine.

[matthew]

@Inspector Gadget

At our last competition we had one of our alliance members program their autonomous to just go forward and push the big balls into the other alliances robot and disrupt their auton. they then made sure that when their robot was about to enter the opposing starting tile they turned their cortex off to prevent the robot from being DQ’d.

A couple of things to note here:

Per <SG6>, robots that cross the plane of their opponents starting tile in autonomous are not disqualified, rather disabled for the remainder of the match:

<SG6> Robots are not permitted to break the plane of their opponents Alliance Starting Tile during the Autonomous Period. Violations of this rule will result in the offending Alliance automatically losing the Autonomous Bonus and the offending Robot being disabled.

Furthermore, robots are not subject to pinning rules in the Autonomous period, per <SG3>:

<SG3> A Robot cannot Pin or Trap an opposing Robot for more than five seconds during the Driver Controlled Period. A Pin or Trap is officially over once the Pinning Robot has moved away and the Robots are separated by at least 2 feet (approximately one (1) foam tile). After ending a Pin or Trap, a Robot may not Pin or Trap the same Robot again for a duration of 5 seconds; if a team does pin the same Robot again, the pinning count will resume from where it left off when the pinning Robot initially backed off. If a referee determines this rule to be violated, the offending Robot will be Disqualified for the match. There is no penalty for Pinning during the Autonomous Period.

Also see this Q&A post.

Edit: Forgot this the first time, but also keep in mind that your robot will still be disabled if it crosses your opponent’s starting tile either accidentally or as a result of another robot (e.g. being pushed), so be extra careful when undertaking this kind of strategy. Although, experience tells me that if all four of the hanging zone large balls are in one corner of the field, it’s pretty hard to move anywhere.

Matt