Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

Getting your team to read the manual thoroughly an issue?
Don't want to waste precious meeting time accomplishing this?

One of our solutions is the Drive Team test.

We are doing a two part test this year.

The first part is a take home test about robot design and constraints.
It gets the students to review the manual about the Robot and they learn on their own time at their leisure.
I will attach this.
Any comments and improvements would be appreciated.

The second part is a test of the tournament and game rules.
It includes the structure of the tournament, practice matches, surrogate robots, fouls, offensive and defensive strategy descriptions, and scoring scenarios.
i.e. Describe 4 autonomous scenarios where an Alliance scores the following points: 15, 33, 48, 75.

I will not attach this as this is the test that we will be giving our team in a sequestered environment to assess their knowledge of the game, ideas about strategy, their roles on the drive team, and their competence.

If you like the first test, PM me and I will send you the second one.

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

Great Test Thanks

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

My team does this too, we ended up having as a barrier before we could do the actual driver tryout and it worked very well in making sure the drive team knew the rules.

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

To qualify to be on the drives team on our team you have to take a written rules test.
There's really no excuse to not know the rules.

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We ask rules questions before they are allowed to eat lunch on days we work all day. Plus there were tests the first day and week that were required to get a passing rate of 80%.

They really were attentive when food was withheld!

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

I have had a lot of requests for the tests.
It's a good time in our build season to prepare our students for the competitions.

I am still holding out on the copy of the Drive Team Game Rules and Strategy Test. It's a good test of game rules and team protocols for time outs and backup Robot substitution.
I will post it here after next week.

I will send it to you if you PM me with an email address.

Should someone who isn't involved in the build or is involved very little be allowed to try out for the drive team?

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

Thanks so much Pete! This is a great assessment to really let our head mentors know which students know the rules and understand the logistic of a competition!

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

In my opinion, no. There may be exceptions on a case by case basis.

If you're just on the team to drive a robot, the team has probably got a few demos you can show up at. Drive there.

Being on the drive team is a privilege. There are a bunch of students on the team; no more than 4 get to be on the drive team. I've actually seen a student removed from a drive team (for a time) for violating team rules. If you're not there and putting in the work, why should you be considered for one of the most prestigious spots on the team?

As noted, if I were making the rules, I'd do exceptions on a case-by-case basis. Good exceptions would include being out due to sickness, if the person was otherwise dedicated, or other "unavoidable issues" not having to do with school or other extracurricular activities. I'd also have an exception the other way, for someone who was present but not productive at a lot of meetings.

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

You are welcome. We are finally giving the test to the candidates this weekend.

If anyone still wants a copy of the Game Rules, Tournament Rules, and Strategy Test, please PM me with your email address.

We are finishing up our practice bot for the Suffield Shakedown scrimmage next Saturday.
Driver practice all week. Another important component of the selection process.

Here we go again!

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

Mooretep sent me the file, our team is going to use it more as a worksheet, but the questions are great and provoke some interesting discussion.

Thanks!

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A new and improved version of the Drive Team Game, Strategy, and Tournament Rules test is here.

It is based on feedback from the students and now includes yellow and red card questions and improved sequencing and a tricky true false question.

PM me with your email address and I will send it to you.

I will also try to send the new and improved version to those who have already received the previous revision.

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

I'd bet that the GDC would have to crack the manual themselves to get all these right. I still remember a prof whose philosophy was that if it were possible to get a perfect score, it was not really a test. Think of a thermometer that only goes to 200 degrees. Useless for a boiling pot.

Thanks for the work on this. I can hear the groans at our next meeting already.

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

There are a few questions where your answer should fill in the blank easily but then have an "except when" after it. Were you just looking for the generalization for such rules?

Like "The BUMPER must be backed by the FRAME PERIMETER at least every 8 in. except when the gap between the bumpers and the frame is <= 1/4"


That being said... I like it *insert evil grin emoticon*

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

So, after emailing out about 30 copies of the Game and Tournament Rules test, I am thinking about posting it here for everyone.

I was waiting until our team completed it and was hesitant from a test security standpoint for teams that wanted to make sure that students didn't have an advanced copy before taking it.

Incidentally, the test for us was the second or third criteria that we used to select the Drive Team. We placed a good deal of importance on time commitment and driving ability.

The most value from the test was through an immediate review and discussion of the possible answers. (most had a hard time with the fouls, yellow and red cards, timeout and backup robot rules.)

Thanks to those who offered improvements that I incorporated in later versions.

So, my question is: Should I just post it, or should I wait until Week One?

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

Nice test. Really got the kids thinking about the rules of the game plan. Thank You Pete!

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Maybe you should clarify "involved in the build". If you wrote the entire Chairman's award essay but never picked up a wrench, I would say you're not just on the team to drive the robot. The skills required to drive or operate or carry a ball to the field or coach are not unique to the team building the robot.

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

There's a lot to be said for a driver who knows the mechanics of the bot. When it misbehaves on the field he is more likely to guess/determine the reason for the behavior and respond accordingly. An ignorant driver may repeatedly try the failing mechanism and break it further, a knowledgeable driver may know how to minimize further damage and/or be able to tell the pit crew what he thinks is wrong. Also, fixing/checking minor things in the queue line is also an option to a driver that knows the bot inside and out.

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True, but......If a driver knows the Robot well, they can better describe any faults or difficulties exhibited during a match.

A Chairman's award expert might make a better Pit Boss to interface with the judges when they stop by at random times in your pit. The judges don't actually get to watch many matches. They are very interested in a personal experience with the team where a student describes the extra work that they have done in their community promoting STEM and FIRST.

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So by that measure, sounds like your software team wouldn't be qualified to be on the drive team either.

I'm just advocating diversity - if everyone on your team is a gearhead (count me as a gearhead) then you may miss out on some real opportunities in your gameplay. A lot goes on during a match that requires observation and communication skills that your less mechanically inclined members may be better at. And maybe Grand Theft Auto Boy who drew the artwork for your t-shirt can out drive anyone else if you put him on the controls. I would just open up the pool of available drive team members (there are 4 including the coach - don't open that can of worms here) to everyone who actively participates, not just everyone who "builds".

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While this is true, I took the original question as more "involved" than "involved specifically with the build". There are a lot of background tasks to be done.

I'll put it this way: If I haven't seen you at the build site (or other appropriate meeting venue for your subteam), you probably won't make drive team consideration at all. If you've been an infrequent visitor, I'm willing to listen to a good explanation but your odds aren't very good. If you've been there most days the site is open, AND you've been productive (loosely defined as actively participating and not causing chaos), your odds are pretty good of being considered. At least, to me.

Actually getting to drive, on the other hand, is a bit more interesting, something about knowing the rules and being able to drive. (I don't want a driver that gets a lot of penalties, or one that is clueless about driving the robot.)

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I think this test could be a point of honor among those that take it. If we had a SAT for Aerial Assist, the team members who get good scores have a bragging point among their peers.

As far a selecting the driving team, it comes down to whose team is it? If it is *my* team I get to pick things. If it is their team they should appreciate the value of understanding the game as the drivers' fingers dance over that control device. My admonition to the team was that the other teams will take variations in the composition of the driving team as evidence of weakness and will affect the team's selection chances and scouting reports. The choice needs to be a true consensus, unless it is *my* team, of course. :D

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

Pete -

Thank you for posting this. I gave it to the team - even gave them a tip to study the rules ahead of time - but it was still a shocker -all the Yellow/Red cards and fouls. In the end though, they do know the rules better now and happy to report that the people who ended up as our drive team did score the highest because they took it seriously.

Good luck on the rest of your season!

-Priscilla

Re: Aerial Assist Drive Team Manual Test
 

Awesome test. I have to say, I didn't know of of the answers off the top of my head, and some I could brush up on the details.

If you are interested I have also made up a Drive Team Test (and posted it here on the forums), though mine focuses a bit more on the knowledge that the Drive Team specifically needs to know I suppose like your second test does. Basically I left out details of legalities of the robot, build specifics, and field dimensions and focused only on things they may encounter during an actual match.

You can view the test here and download it if you like.

Also feel free to PM for the answer key, I would rather not post it publicly but am happy to give it out on request.