How did your team determine drivers?
 

Our team is in conflict about how we will pick students of our drive team so I was wondering how other teams decided who the drivers would be? Also, what have you tried in the past? What worked and what didn't? Please advise. Thanks.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

What we did was just have anyone who thinks they can drive the robot drive the robot. Our mentors decided who was the best, and most of the time it was pretty obvious. Put obstacles out, do some timed tests to do certain tasks and see how you do.

I hope this helps!

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

Our team takes several factors into account when choosing a drive team. Of course, as stated above, talent is key. BUT, we also weigh a student's involvement during build season, their understanding of strategy, and ability to communicate with coach/co-pilot. Seniority is also a small factor :) Hope this helps!

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

We have a written test to determine a thorough understanding of the rules followed by a drivers test (the human players do a test handling the trident) and lastly an interview with the coach and team leaders to determine not only what kind of members of the drives team they are but also as representatives of our team being that they will be the most visible members of our team and the members who will be in contact the most with other teams. It is important that those members of the drives team are worthy of being in that position. Alot of people have worked very hard over alot of years to build our reputation to have it destroyed by someone who is incapable of handling some responsibility so we take this process very seriously.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

Pick a drive team.... That's what Thursday is for, right?:p

No, seriously, we have an awesome opportunity hosted by team 281. The Saturday before ship date they put on a scrimmage. All the students that wish to drive show up. The mentors make the final call (I take bribes).
We too issue a drivers test that test overall knowledge of the team, robot and rules.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

This year was easy for us because a 3rd year driver was returning. He is awesome and gets the job.

But
In year's past we have had a written test to determine a thorough understanding of the rules and more importantly a drivers test.

We use old robots (we keep the last 2 years) and put them through an obstacle course. mentors do all grading and evaluation to keep in impartial and unbiased. If it's close we have a driver a back-up and an alternate. They all practice on new robot for final decision.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

I agree with Koko Ed, the drive team has to know the rules inside and out both to avoid penalties and to keep the competition safe and smoothly operating.

Here is a link to a Question Bank with 2010 rule questions that you can use to make rules test for your drive team: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2322

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

I thought I was having deja-vu and then realized I was thinking about last year... there is a lot of good information in this thread, and Im sure there are others as well.

There are a lot of key factors in selecting a good drive team, some of ours are: Chemistry (can they work together??), Strategy, Skill/Talent, Communication, Seniority, Involvement, Attending all Competitions, Maturity.

Its best if you can test out combinations of drive teams at offseasons or pre-ship scrimmages, you can see who works well together, which coaches are listened to, who listens to the coaches, who sees the whole field/focuses when they need to, etc.

Our best driver/secondary combination was a pair that didnt even have to talk, they just instantly knew what the other was doing (this is rare). Our second best constantly talked things out, they would communicate a lot and listen to the coach. Two incredibly skilled drivers that can't communicate or wont listen to the coach will be useless to you.

Above all, know what the roles are...
Coach: big picture view, looking at the entire field ALL of the time, watching the clock, knowing where the team needs to be next, communicating with other coaches, etc.
Driver: Controls where the robot is driving and only focuses on your robot, relies on the coach for outside information, is aware of any issues with the robot.
Secondary Driver: Usually controls auxiliary functions of the robot, must be in constant communication with the primary driver. Again only focused on your robot.
Human Player: This year ONLY watches the goal/ball chute & other human players. Should NEVER be watching your or any other robots or may risk delaying the return of the ball.

Each should be very comfortable in that particular role and know that they aren't responsible for the other roles. Communication is KEY.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

We run five VEX teams at our school, and have found that drivers that make smart decisions at VEX tournaments tend to make smart decisions at FRC tournaments.

This year we'll have a practice robot to drive around for a few weeks, so we can make sure we have a couple of people really familiar with how to drive.

Everyone on the drive team, however, has to be familiar with the robot and have demonstrated committment, dedication and attention to detail during the build.

Usually the driver will have had some experience on the drive team in previous years, either as second driver or coach, so they will be familiar with queueing and robot start procedures.


Jason

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

Well, I was the driver for our team last year after an obstacle course drive test. You get three time trials, and the AVERAGE time is your score. The person with the lowest score gets it. I won mainly due to my awesome Virtual On skills (Since that game works similar to tank drive). Anyway, this year, they just chose me to do the driving, since i was so good last year. To tell the truth, I'm really nervous. I mean, look at me last year... (On the far right)

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

We decide our team's drivers/drive team based on three things:
1. Technical experience. Everyone on our drive team, and in our pit for that matter, knows the robot inside and out and can trouble shoot like no-body's business.
2. Dedication. Our drive team members tend to put in somewhere between 200-250+ hours a season, at a minimum. This tends to help with the first one, but not necessarily. Time is an excellent way to test someone's dedication, and whether or not they deserve to be on drive team.
3. Talent. This tends to be the lowest on the list, and usually only applies to the main driver.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

Considering we share the same shop and everything. This is something we share as well.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

my sophmore year (the year I became designated driver lol)
our team was also in conflict...
we put together 2 frames on wheels...to test our driving abilities

there were about 6 of us that wanted to drive, so the mentors kept setting up side by side obstacle courses and challenges for us to negotiate...
there was also a box with a sensor on each side, designed to have no more than an inch clearance on all sides of the robot, and you had to park perfectly in that box at the end of each round...

it came down to me, and one other student...
our FINAL CHALLENGE was to negotiate an extremely hard obstacle course that included ramps, slaloms through tetras, and the dreaded "parking box of doom and all things evil"...in REVERSE...BLINDFOLDED...with nothing but a mock "mentor" to tell you where you were, and what you needed to do next...

needless to say, I smoked my opponent...haha
mainly because I had a vex kit at home, and I could never figure out how to program teleop into it, and my motors would always turn out backwards lol...so I had been driving in reverse for a long time before this challenge

I only hit 1 tetra, and missed the ramp a few times

after that, each year, I have been unanimously voted designated driver by the team haha
and again this year too :)

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

I think the blindfolded obstacle course sounds like the way to go, partially because it would be extremely entertaining to watch. :D

As far as I know (I haven't tried out before, although I may this year), we just hold driver's tests. Whoever is the best at driving gets that job, and whoever is best at auxiliary gets that job. Of course, the mentors have to approve, so that makes sure that we get someone who has a good understanding of the game, knows strategy, has good communication skills, and performs well under pressure.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

Good call. Its good to know the rules and all, but they can be taught. Talent cannot in this short amount of time.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

Our team gave a test for strategy and rules. If you would like a copy of our test, send me a PM.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

Picking simply on talent in a skills test is not how I like to pick drivers.

In my experience the best way to pick a driver is to start with a personality test. Even if someone knows all the rules and drives like a wiz, if they can't communicate with the coach and they can't deal with pressure then they are not someone I would consider.

Then I like a rules test, because it forces the people that tryout to know something about the game and to think about the game outside of the meetings. It shows that they care enough to read the rules and to understand what they are doing.

Finally you should have them drive the robot. Unless you have a practice robot or a lot of spare time, having someone who spends more time crashing into walls than scoring is kind of a problem. If you do have the ability to practice a lot or have an old robot lying around that you can practice with you are able to pick someone who struggles here and give them the ability to get better.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

My team hasn't picked drivers. I think I have a voice in the decision, but I'm not sure.

I don't care how well the driver moves the robot the first time they touch the controls. Anyone can get good at that. I want to know who is an effective communicator, who works best under pressure, and who is most driven to succeed. Mature, level headed team players can be taught how to be great drivers; the reverse isn't true in under a month.

Re: How did your team determine drivers?
 

We start by asking who is interested. Then we tell them they need to be around enough to get time with the controls. Typically underclassmen spend time practicing, but the ones that get to compete are typically the ones with more experience. They need to know the game, but we dont have a written test. (THAT MAY CHANGE THOUGH!!!) BUT it comes down three things. One is can you (they) control the robot, do you know the game, and can you listen.

This weekend, one driver was so focused on the the robot, he blocked out the opperator and the coach. So it was like talking into a black hole. If you cant listen to your coach and operator, its doesn't matter how good you drive. The same goes to the operator. They need to listen and I encourage both to communicate as much as possible. At one point one of our drivers started to Hang from the wrong tower. They need to know the game and know how and where to score... otherwise its a waste.

We are finishing a second robot now so the students can continue to practice. We will probably give a few people a shot during practice on thursdays, but my belief is we need to pick as team and go with it.... on Sat it was a Sophomore and and Senior. Human player is a Sophomore as well, he was also our human player as a freshman.

I know people want to give everyone a shot, but Consistency is your friend when it comes to competition. And Winning isnt everything... but it sure feels beter than loosing. Every team needs to learn how to behave in winning and loosing situations, but I feel it values everyones hard work when you put your best team forward. If you do that, and you try hard there should be no regrets. So you should feel good about your efforts even if you don't preform well. But if you place drivers and operators on the fireing line in competition and they arent ready, and they get stressed and mybe break the robot and the team gets upset because they know it wasnt the best you could do... then it doesnt really help anyone.

We always give people a shot, but not always in competition. Sometimes they need time to mature. But we always want a team "comming up" for the next season. So we let people practice when ever possible. Sometimes we are supprised and we can have a driver for 3 years and have great success.

Hope this helps... its not as easy as true/false in my view.