When will any details of this be released?
Thanks,
JesseJay
Will AVC 2016’s details be similar enough to the 2015 details for teams to begin relevant development?
Currently nothing is set - final decisions and making plans will likely happen January or early February. Were I a betting man, my money would be on it being relatively similar to last year, with a few additions or tweaks. But really, can’t say for sure. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
CS Paul: That’s all right, knowing that the upcoming AVC should be similar to 2015 at least helps my team start designing. It also helps to have an estimated date for when the full details will be released. Thank you!
As an aside, are the SparkFun forums the best place to get AVC updates or is there an AVC mailing list (etc.)?
Any chance of bringing back the aerial vehicle portion?
Thanks, Tim
CS Paul:
My money would be on it being relatively similar to last year.
I’ve noticed that almost all participating vehicles in the past two competitions were driven by electric motors https://avc.sparkfun.com/2014/scores & https://avc.sparkfun.com/2015/scores. The only exception to this trend appears to be SHARC’s “Troubled Child” driven by a V8 engine to win the 2014 AVC Doping Class http://www.bot-thoughts.com/2014/06/avc-sharc-fsv.html
I don’t see any rule against the use of r/c vehicles driven by gasoline or nitro engines https://avc.sparkfun.com/2015/rules so how come these types of r/c vehicles are not frequently used?
vergevaliant19:
CS Paul:
My money would be on it being relatively similar to last year.I’ve noticed that almost all participating vehicles in the past two competitions were driven by electric motors https://avc.sparkfun.com/2014/scores & https://avc.sparkfun.com/2015/scores. The only exception to this trend appears to be SHARC’s “Troubled Child” driven by a V8 engine to win the 2014 AVC Doping Class http://www.bot-thoughts.com/2014/06/avc-sharc-fsv.html
I don’t see any rule against the use of r/c vehicles driven by gasoline or nitro engines https://avc.sparkfun.com/2015/rules so how come these types of r/c vehicles are not frequently used?
This is getting a bit off topic… but basically gas is more of a hassle. Starting issues, transporting, storage, etc. There have been other gas bots, like a full size go kart. But in my mind all the complications just don’t make it worth it. I had to work harder to find a 1/t5th scale rc car setup for electric but I think it’s worth the trouble. If you have more questions you can always reach our group of rover enthusiasts at diyrovers google group.
JesseJay
Will the obstacles for classic AVC be reused from last year, the stanchions, barrels, hoop, and ramp? Will they be the same colors?
Shape detection is tough enough even if you know what the shapes are. :think:
cdude1990:
Will the obstacles for classic AVC be reused from last year, the stanchions, barrels, hoop, and ramp? Will they be the same colors?Shape detection is tough enough even if you know what the shapes are. :think:
I think we are still in the process of building the course so I don’t have an answer for that quite yet. 
For classic AVC it appears we need to use an IR transponder on the vehicle.
How does it mount?
What power source does it use? The pic looks like a servo cable, so 4.8 to 6.0 volts?
What is a Jackson? (They cost $20 to rent for the event so have a Jackson ready on Saturday morning)
Edit: Ok I get the Jackson reference to a $20 bill
Yeah, same question. The Edison doesn’t have enough voltage for this, so I’m thinking to use 4 AAAs and mounting with duct tape. I assume only two wires from the servo are used. It would be awesome to buy the transponder ahead of time.