[Gargamel]

I think Steve has it right. IT's not about the tracking methods, as those are pretty cut and dry. Establish contact, don't lose it and get as good a contact as possible.

I think they are trying to see how the drone should react to other factors that aren't directly scored ingame. IE, avoiding merchant traffic. The higher scoring results will have successfully avoided traffic to not get the penalty, and they are trying to see how the better drivers avoid the contact while maintaining optimal contact. If the drone sees the target going for a back scratch manuever on a merchy, how should it react to stay on target and not collide?

What I still don't get though, is the array of sensors and platforms we're being given to work with. Are they seriously using our results to help decide which design bid to accept? Some of the designs are useless at the targets top speed, so throw that out. And then why can one design have uber-sensors, while others have them seemingly pointed in the wrong direction? Why can't they mix and match? If it's a power/size issue, then make the damn thing a bit bigger. I bet some solar panels, wind, and wave generators would work nicely on this thing, etc etc. If they have intentionally designed flaws into the drones to test our tactics, then why the redundancy?

Anyways, With my internet being as it is right now, I haven't been able to submit my results (different machine). I'm just glad I was able to contribute some statistical analysis to the project.