Chief Delphi - Picking drive team?

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Picking drive team?

What is the best way to pick a drive team, i have been on the drive team.
Also which is better one main drive team, or sub drive teams?

Re: Picking drive team?

1) Find or build robot similar to robot you will be fielding.
2) Set up challenge.
3) Team that does the challenge best gets the primary job.
4) Repeat for backup team.

You will want a backup team--sometimes, the primaries can't be there for whatever reason.

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricH (Post 1075723)

Thats a great idea, thanks. :)

Re: Picking drive team?

This early in the season it really shouldn't have much to do with skill. Now is the time for people to take the old base and practice with it. If you have the facilities, or even just an afternoon at a local team's field, bring some prospective drivers down and do some training drills. Look less at their ability and more at how they handle themselves behind the glass and working in concert with others.

Anyone can learn to drive well, but not everyone can keep calm under pressure and make snap decisions. Find the people mature enough to do that and give them enough time and motivation to get to the top of FRC.

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris is me (Post 1075726)

would it be better to build the chassis first, and make sure that it drives before you continue to build up? or build up and work on the wheel programming later.

Re: Picking drive team?

Would you want to pick the best team or pick the best people individually?

Re: Picking drive team?

I want to pick people that have great skills driving the robot, but also work together well. Like when i was picked i knew the robot inside out, but the controller was handed to me and said here he will drive you just kick the ball when it comes up. It was all at random, but im just curious if theres a more organized and reasonable way..

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by roboticsgoof95 (Post 1075727)

would it be better to build the chassis first, and make sure that it drives before you continue to build up? or build up and work on the wheel programming later.

Throughout the build, it's a good idea to let the drivers fool with the robot at every stage. If there are issues with the drivetrain, it's easier to fix them before it has lots of contraptions stacked on top it.
It's important to note, however, that the robot handles differently when weights and moments are added to the frame. So the robot won't be as agile in week 5 as it was in week 2.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stundt1 (Post 1075733)

Would you want to pick the best team or pick the best people individually?

Team. Communication is critical, as is trust. You need a nice, cohesive group that can communicate clearly with each other and with their alliance partners.

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by stundt1 (Post 1075733)

Would you want to pick the best team or pick the best people individually?

The best team, hands down.

If the best people don't work together, the best team will beat them. Now, if the best people form the best team, they'll win every time.

Re: Picking drive team?

i love the mechanum wheels, but does it depend in the game in which wheels you use.

Should i keep my eyes open for who works well with who?

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taylor (Post 1075735)

Team. Communication is critical, as is trust. You need a nice, cohesive group that can communicate clearly with each other and with their alliance partners.

Completely agree with this. When me and my fellow driver where picked, it was because we were the ones who could talk to each other (without yelling), we would listen to eachother, and when we drove it looked like one person was driving the robot, not two people. Communication is key to a successful drive team! They also need to know how the robot works, if you are driving and something goes wrong, then in the pits you will most likely know what went wrong and how to fix it. This happened a few times this year.

Re: Picking drive team?

Well i doubt ill be on the drive team, but i know what you guys mean. After all they will have more fun if they get along and not fighting. right? :)

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by akoscielski3 (Post 1075739)

Absolutely! This was my first year on the Drive Team, and I was Coach. Our driver had been the driver in 2010 as well. The connection we had during matches was evident, and it made things flow smoothly. Ou operator had the skills, but wasn't the most cooperative, especially under pressure. We switched operators for IRI, and it made a difference.

I think that goes to show that skill is important, but so is the choice of people that have to work together. A Drive Team with skills but no bond will be beaten by a team where there is some connection. Our Coach and driver last year were not huge fans of each other, which made a big difference too. I know it may sound cheesy, but I think it makes a difference.

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by GCentola (Post 1075745)

so make both equally balanced? :)

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by roboticsgoof95 (Post 1075747)

so make both equally balanced? :)

Pick people who can do the job well, and will not crack under pressure. Skills can be developed with practice, but making sure the Drive Team wants to work together is jus as important. A good drive team can save a bad robot, and a bad drive team will ruin a great robot.

Re: Picking drive team?

We put very little emphasis on tryout-type skills.

Building up skills is what practice is for. The skills you have going into practice are usually trainable in a very short time driving a robot, not even this robot specifically. We find that the best drive team works well together, with Jim (coach/team leader), and the rest of the team. This always puts the student leaders in driving positions.

Our previous drive team (Matt+Kitty) drove approx. 200 competition matches together, between their two FRC and OCCRA seasons and off-seasons. They would not have been together had they not worked well together. A lot of that has to do with OCCRA - they led the OCCRA team, drove, and worked many late nights to finish the OCCRA robots.

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by apalrd (Post 1075756)

so practice, knowing the robot, dedication, and communication? am i forgetting anything?

Re: Picking drive team?

There are a few threads relating to this topic, you may find a lot of helpful info in those ones too. The most recent I can think of is Driver Selection: A discussion (sorry, no link). Everything said on this thread is also very true! Best of luck!

Garrick

Re: Picking drive team?

Quote:

Originally Posted by roboticsgoof95 (Post 1075758)

so practice, knowing the robot, dedication, and communication? am i forgetting anything?

Practice.

Re: Picking drive team?

My post in this thread almost exactly describes what I would say here, so here's my response below:

Quote:

1) First, we determine who is interested in driving. The students who are interested in driving all get an equal opportunity to practice on old robots to get used to driving the base, as well as on our prototype robot, to practice whatever functions are exclusive to each game. We build two robots (one for practice), so we extend this process past when we have shipped the competition bot. A week or two before regionals, we decide on our official drive team. There are some important characteristics that must be taken into consideration:

- Drivers must listen to the coach at all times
- Drivers must work well with each other (good chemistry)
- Drivers must exercise good judgment- we don't want to see reckless or stupid driving on the field
- Drivers must be agile and quick
- Drivers must have a good handle on the rules and game play
- Drivers must have a decent idea of basic strategies the coach will use
- Drivers must know how the robot works
- Drivers must follow all team rules, since they are the most "visible" people during a competition
- Drivers must have x hours of practice on that year's robot (it varies from year to year)

Writing those things out, it seems like we're ridiculously harsh in our driver selection process, but we're not super-rigid about rules. Students who are motivated to read the rules, get familiar with the robot, act appropriately, and practice driving have a good shot at qualifying.

We also choose a back-up drive team, (the next two people who qualify based on these criteria). The back-up drive team is used for if the primary drivers are sick, need a break, are not on their game, etc.

2) We use a similar selection process for coaches (we only do student coaches). Once we've figured out who is interested, they train by instructing the drivers who are practicing on the different robots. Again, there are a lot of characteristics we would like to see in a coach:

- Coach must work well with drive team (good chemistry)
- Coach must be able to think quickly and rationally
- Coach must be able to exercise good judgment in tricky scenarios
- Coach must stay calm and level-headed- no panicking, and no screaming at the drivers
- Coach must have an excellent handle on the rules in the manual- our coaches usually know the rules down to the wording, and the number of the rule (like <G42>)
- Coach must understand game play, and have some pre-determined strategies laid out
- Coach must work well with scouting team to determine strategies based on partners/opponents
- Coach must spend time watching other regionals and analyzing game play to better our own
- Coach must know how the robot works
- Coach must follow all team rules, since (s)he is the most "visible" person during a competition

Again, even though it seems like a lot of rigid stuff listed out, it's not too hard to fit most of these criteria if you actually try. We also choose a back-up coach, (the next person who qualifies based on these criteria). The back-up coach is used for if the primary coach is sick, needs a break, is not on his/her game, etc.

3) As you can tell, we have two drivers. One controls the base of the robot, and one controls whatever game-related piece we have on the robot, like an arm, a claw, an elevator, a shooter, etc. It's easier to split up the tasks so that each person can focus on their own part.

Edit: I thought of something else you might want to take into consideration. You mentioned the stress of the competition as a factor in why your driver selection wasn't quite right. When our drivers are practicing, we crank up distracting music really loud, have our spirit team cheering, spectators, and other various people around the area to simulate a competition. It does distract the drivers a lot, and it definitely helps to prepare them for competition. Also, if you have old robot, you might want to have people driving those robots as well as the new one to "get in the way" just like you'd see at a competition.