Lame Duck Period
 

Now that build season is over Drivers can't drive their robot. The next time they can really drive their competing robot is at their regional competition.
So I was wondering, are there any teams that have found ways to get access to practice for their Drivers.
For example I was thinking of the possibility of having a replica robot being built simultaneously along with their actual robot. Of course, building one robot is enough of a challenge.

Re: Lame Duck Period
 

This is how we get our drivers practice. For the last two yrs. our rookie yr and this yr. we have made two bots. A practice and competition bot. It does wonders.

Re: Lame Duck Period
 

Tons of teams do this, especially the elite teams. Driver skill is one of the biggest deciding factors in alliance selections, so drivers who have been practicing for weeks usually perform better.

Re: Lame Duck Period
 

We build our practice bot before our final bot. Therefore, we can make any final adjustments necessary for our competition robot. Of course our practice bot will be a bit different, but not too much. Learn from mistakes. :D

Re: Lame Duck Period
 

OP: I think you'll find dozens of thread about practice bots here on CD if you look around a little :) No need to re-hash everything again in this thread.

Re: Lame Duck Period
 

Typically we build 3 robots. One prototype and two identical twins for competition. After build season is over and one of the twins is bagged, we drive the other till it falls apart and use that information to plan upgrades and fixes for its bagged sibling. The prototype is dismantled when we build three. The past two seasons however have been tight on time and materials so we just convert our prototype into practice.