[rarprrydude234]

From my personal experience, which i was a driver for team 234 from the off-season in 2006 (freshman year of HS) to 2009 off-season at the IRI, numerous teams we had worked with had what i would call good drivers. However being able to also see it from a mentors perspective now with teams 2360 (2010) and now back with team 234 (2011), drivers are an extremely important aspect to the FRC competitions.

You must have a group at the controls and a mentor(coach) with them that can get along, have trust, as well as maintain a level but cool head while still being extremely intense. One of the biggest things i think that helped the success that we had when i was driving was the fact that myself and the operator were talking constantly in and out of matches and also would yell and argue a lot. Our drive coach had said at one point, and this may not be the exact quote from Mr. Chris Fultz, but it has to be close... he had said he loved being a coach for myself and the operator (Sam G.) because he had to give just a little input because we were always at each others throats ourselves during and after each match for what we did wrong and what we can improve.

With that said, it also goes back to robot functionality and its components where a key one, in my point of view, is programming and the controls. Each year i have been with a team, the driver and operator sit down with a few manufacturers about half to 3/4's through the season and decide how they want to drive/operate. Without certain functions on the controls, operating the robot would be extremely difficult. In 2007 with our arm on our tube hanging robot, we had each peg level pre-et. This year, another tube hanging game, we have pre-sets again. The operator has a switch for the middle set of pegs which allows for the extra height needed.

I have been out in the workforce some with one of our sponsors recently as well as worked with other manufacturing companies locally in Indianapolis. Seeing people operate the "non-programmable" lathes, mills, cncs, etc. it has become apparent to me that the saying is true - the operator can only be as good as the best tool he has. Without the right tools, you can only be so efficient.

Also i can say that having as much practice as possible before going to a competition is extremely important! Even if it is just driving a chassis.

I believe what i am trying to say is that there is a certain combination - drive coach, driver, operator, robot, controls, and programming - that are truly needed before it can be a winning robot. Although to continue with some of the posts prior to this, some drivers over the year, in my personal opinion, have been a key necessity to pulling it all together when needed.