I think that you can generalize the lesson even more, into "variability is
built into the robot game, and the key to success is building robust
solutions that take that into account".

Consider: from game to game (on the same table), battery power level might
change.  Models might be put in slightly different positions, and the robot
might be in a slightly different starting position.

Between tables, additional factors come into play: the illumination is
different, the mats aren't the same distance from the walls, and so on.

Then there's the variability built into the equipment: traction will vary
from tire to tire, there's slack in the motor gearing, and so on.

(Calibrated) sensors will help you build robust solutions, as will simple
things like starting jigs and bumpers so that the robot can drive into a
wall to square up itself.

On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 5:44 AM, John Davison <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> As part of our rookie lessons learned for next season, does anyone have
> thoughts about the pros and cons of using rechargeable vs. regular
> batteries?  Early on, we found that our robot performance varied quite a
> bit based on how fresh the batteries were, and we seemed to be burning
> through lots of regular batteries.  So we switched to rechargeable
> batteries soon before the competition, but then had to tweak our
> programming because the output of rechargeable batteries is different from
> regular batteries!  If we stick with rechargeable batteries for our next
> robot design, are there any potential problems or downside that others have
> experienced?
>
> John Davison
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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