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<DIV>I did not see anything in the rules excluding beacons.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On the can end, the current rules mention substitution the white
course can with a can of another color or a "B-can" of your own design.</DIV>
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<DIV>If you would like to put a home base beacon up, who will stop you?</DIV>
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<DIV>If contest rules become overly restrictive on how you do a task. They
really should be examined.</DIV>
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<DIV>Also, if shorter walls in Can collection killed the opportunity
to use sonar, maybe that should be examined against visibility and
transportability of a contest course -- or hold contests at the warehouse
and invite use of either course.</DIV>
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<DIV>I should mention the goal in single can collection concept was to
speed the contest and reduce its complexity. I am sure David
Anderson spent some time adding the ability to do position
re-calibrate (odometry referencing robot) -- I know I did, when I attempted
to do that on a fire fighting robot using video analysis of a wall floor
border.</DIV>
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<DIV>Orange cans are easy to see if you are using video. If cost is prohibitive,
I would recommend going after beacon technology. Dale Wheat was pushing on
beacon design earlier this year -- cheap!</DIV>
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<DIV>At last months meeting, David Anderson proposed contests that would tend to
encourage development of odometry skills + big help for most everyone.</DIV>
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<DIV>I wonder how well David's SR04 would perform Can Can without use
of odometry?</DIV>
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<DIV>Odometry is a king, I caught on to that fact real quick when I joined the
club, never mind all the distractions off into 3D simulation land and
speech I/O that have overcomplicated my software..</DIV>
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<DIV>I guess too the dual benefits of motor encoders being useful
in controlling motor speed and measuring distance traveled with
little sensor lag and not much "noise" when on a smooth surface
& not slipping , make that technology important to master.</DIV>
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<DIV>IMHO, We really need to encourage learning and implementing that
skill in our robot builders. </DIV>
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<DIV>Also, beyond all other skills, teach the most important, DIVIDE
AND CONQUER. </DIV>
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<DIV>R o n</DIV>
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