Drivers
 

one or two drivers of the bot this year

every year for the past 4 years we have had two drivers but this year some seniors want to just have one driver for both buttons and stick

what is your team doing?

Re: Drivers
 

It depends on the robot.
If your robot doesn't have any arms or lifts, or manipulators, it may be better to have only one driver. This way they have control of everything they need to do.
If you have something other than a basic drive platform, and your robot has too many functions for one person, then you should use 2 drivers.

Basically, if one person can handle the whole robot well, then you can use one driver.

Re: Drivers
 

only bad thing about one driver what if that person freezes on the field know one else can touch the controls

~julie

Re: Drivers
 

That's why you have driver tryouts. To pick the best driver.

Also, please use punctuation.

Re: Drivers
 

Not quite true. You can have two drivers on the field, even if only one is required to run the robot. If you can get away with one driver operating all the functions of the bot, I would highly encourage you use the second driver position as an additional coach. Having another set of eyes on the team that doesn't have to worry about the 'bot every second is another set of eyes that may see the golden opportunity. Both drivers can 'tag team' the controls if you wish, switching positions.

This is fairly critical this year, as the human player is isolated from the rest of the team, and won't be able to communicate effectively. The load on the coach has gone up because of this.

But, I do caution against putting all the bot functions on one person. accurately moving a robot on a small field crowded with 5 other robots, goals and tetras is challenging. If the driver then also has to keep track of a box of switches, things can get pretty complicated fast. It has been done, but I think that when it works is a combination of good controls, simple bot functions and a superb driver.

-Andy A.

Re: Drivers
 

this years drivers are going have to very good at talking and listen

Re: Drivers
 

I think its better to have two drivers for a few reasons:

1. Easier for each driver to control specific functions.
2. The drive only has to worry about moving, and colliding with other robots - if they're trying to move the arm, they can't do that.
3. It gives a chance for more members to actively participate during the competition.

Re: Drivers
 

In past years we have one driver directing the chassis and another driver controlling all the accessories. The same will probably hold true for this year

Re: Drivers
 

If you have any sort of endefector... you almost always have to have 2 drivers. The base driver must be solely concentrated on moving your bot by the other 5 bots and 9 goals on the field.
I also dislike the idea of two coaches. One coach is the brain of the team. He communicates with the other 2 coaches and his 2 drivers. The only thing another coach would do is cause confusion IMHO. If a only a single driver is required, have the second person available shout out time intervals.. or interpret the coaches directions to the driver. 2 thinking decision making coaches is bad. The strategy must come from one source period.I am not saying that a second person couldn't be used.. timing and robot alerts are great uses. But it is much much much easier when there are 2 drivers for a robot that has a manipulator of any kind. The drivers are just the hands on the floor implementing what the coach says.

Re: Drivers
 

If you don't have an arm, you can still use the operator as a second coach. The operator could be the person talking to the human player or keeping an extra eye on the field. Even if you don't plan on using the operator to actually operate, you can still use them for other reasons.


GO 1403!!!

Re: Drivers
 

In 2003, we only had one driver, and look where it got us, National Finals. It really depends on the robot and the driver though. If you have new driver/not to great a driver, it is obviously best to have two drivers out on the field. But in 2003, we had a 3 year driver out there doing the rounds by himself, flawlessy might i add.

A few things i can think of for not having 2 drivers:
1. Less communication for the coach to do.
2. Time between switching objectives can decrease.
3. Two coaches
4. (i have more, however i am drawing a big blank right now)

I know however, all my points can be countered, so it really just depends on the strength of the driver and the strength/diffuculty of the bot.

BTW-I personally think having 2 coaches can be very beneficial this year. You can have one talk to each alliance partner, and each can be watching separate tasks.

Re: Drivers
 

As always...45 will have one driver and one operator. Both of the positions are still unfilled at this time since we haven't had try outs yet. What other team(s) have driver/operator tryouts?

Re: Drivers
 

Last year was our rookie year, and before we even started on the bot, we had a student who decided to bring in his RC cars.

It was pretty clear who the best driver was going to be. Every once and a while other people drive it, but he is our main (and only) competition driver.

He's very good with using controls, and it is better for him personally to have them at the same time, but it all depends on the team. In our team, I don't think people communicate well, and it'd be hard for more than one driver to control, or even to switch coaches from match to match.

Re: Drivers
 

Yeah! on the coaches thing they cant work together in one mind set.

Re: Drivers
 

I disagree. If you split responsibilities you can definitely work together. Playing the game should be one coach's job. Maybe something like watching the time. In this years game you could probably use another coach for watching the goals capped and stuff? If you work it out right you can do well. That's a guarantee. It worked well for us in 2003. We were the CMP finalist.

Re: Drivers
 

We are actually going to have two joysticks for tank steering and use the buttons to move the arm up and down. It's going to be real simple and we're only going to have one driver, but a 2nd back up driver to take his place in case if he screws up.

Re: Drivers
 

Don't do it. If you have an arm.. use 2 drivers. Don't say "if he screws up" either. This is supposed to be a fun thing... competitive yes, but fun. You don't want to swap drivers out in the middle of a match ever. If you split the driving up into two drivers they will do soo much better. I don't know how to say this other than the drivers are "dumb"...they have NO idea what is going on on the floor. They are concerned with the robot they are driving. The less thinking required to operate a task, such as cap a tetra, the less time it takes to do it. Two drivers is the way to go with a robot that has a manipulator that is used a lot.

Re: Drivers
 

We have driver tryouts, also. We have a few practices during the week, with last year's robot. Interested drivers get a chance to drive and are evaluated over a period of time. We'll set up different scenarios and courses for them to complete.

Re: Drivers
 

Alright ya thanks for the advice. I'll try to bring that up at our next team meeting.

Re: Drivers
 

More then likely we are gonna have two drivers, one to operate the robot and one to operate the grabber arm. We had the same set up last year with two drivers, makes it alot less confusing.

Re: Drivers
 

we have driver/operator and human player tryouts. Tryouts consist of taking tests on the rules (so we dont have to worry about our drivers getting penaltys for breaking rules they "didnt know about") and of actual hands-on driving/tetra carrying tests, where we time how long it takes to do different tasks, like stack 3 tetras on a goal or someonething, or to pick up a tetra, place it on the bot, and run back and stop at the pressure sensor pad thing. (sorry for lack of formal names on field parts; i'm tired ^^; )

we just had our priliminary test on the rules which all driver/arm operator/human player wanna-be's took, which was easy and only 22 questions long about basic rules, dimensions, penalties, ways to score, etc. in a week or so we will have a much longer and detailed test on every aspect of the game that will really determine the people truly capable of being drivers. there (of course) will be a hands-on test as well, but if two drivers/human players/ect. are about the same in the hands-on test, their written test scores will determine who will become the official driver or arm operator or human player, and who will become the alternate.

team 233 uses 2 drivers, one person to drive the base of the robot, and the other to operate the arm(s) or any other accessory of the robot. This promotes teamwork between students and their driving coach, and forces the burden of the success or failure of a team on the field across a few people, instead of just one. (although i'd rather not think of it as "success" or "failure" but more along the lines of, "we did this well" or "we shouldnt do that again" or more importantly "lets just keep in mind that this is a learning experience") Personally i believe two drivers would be ideal, for it forces teamwork and allows each driver to focus on a certain aspect of the game, excelling at their specific task, rather than having one person have to focus on everything, even if they have two coaches to help them along. Yet if you have a superior driver who is used to driving individally and can do it effectively, then by all means, go with that single driver, and use the second "driver" as another coach or as a timekeeper or whatever you wish. its really up to you.

Re: Drivers
 

My team had a simple solution for the debate we were having over 1 driver vs. 2 driver.

We are making the entire control board covered in velcro (or something similar) so we can rearrange the joysticks as needed, then switch which driving program we are using so we can test both ways. Once we decide which way is better we'll choose which our driver/operator (s) should be.

Also, like that, if our normal arm operator or driver is fatally sick or something, there's always the posibility that we change our control setup to accomidate different drivers/operators.


Lastly, some people say it's too hard for a single driver to control a bot with many functions, but I have seen it done (and quite well too). The driver was just 100% familiar with every single control and he had a coach right over his shoulder to keep him aware of the entire arena.

Re: Drivers
 

Well I don't know about velcro but my team will have one driver who is in control of the actual movement of the robot, and one operator who is in charge of our arm. One person controlling both the arm and robot would be to confusing, plus communication isn't really a problem when your just telling them something like "okay boom up" or something to that effect.