[JohnGilb]

Selection

Drive team selection is something that is a high priority for our team. There are a few things we do that I believe contribute to a high-quality drive team (& human player, but I'll mostly focus on robot operations):

1) Driver candidates may not touch the robot controls until they take a written test that covers every rule mentioned in that year's "The Game" document, and must score over 90%. They can take the test as many times as they want, and the test doesn't change - the only thing that matters is that they learn the rules of the game until they are second nature.
--Having a test of any kind helps you identify the candidates who are willing to put in effort for this opportunity
--No robot time until they pass the test makes for a great motivator for learning the rules
--A drive team that knows the rules by heart can perform some fairly impressive feats and make quick judgement calls on the field

2) Drive candidates then choose a specialization - Driver or Operator, and they only practice in those roles. They also list who they would prefer to Drive/Operate alongside with.
--You already get so little practice time during the season, you want to make sure that candidates are spending as much time focusing on their area of expertise as possible. You want to have the best possible driver and the best possible operator, not the best possible driver and the second best driver who reluctantly is now the operator
--Many of the candidates are probably friends, share classes, etc... and there can be excellent performance improvements when they bring that synergy to the field already instead of having to cultivate it in a few weeks.

3) Drive candidates are then put through a series of practical tests using a practice chassis or old robot (a driver might go through a series of slaloms, or other difficult maneuvers, for example)
--Some candidates will just have more aptitude for a particular robot or design, and you want to see that before you make your decision

4) The drive team is then chosen, using all the data from steps 1-3. The other candidates become the backup drive team (in case of illness, etc).


Enhancement

Now that you've got your primary drive team, you should focus all your efforts on training them - time becomes a precious commodity.

Given that your drive team will command the robot for about 2 minutes every match, with a rough average of 17 matches per regional with two regionals and the world championship (let's assume you have a winning team that gets to play a lot of elimination matches), that's about 102 minutes of operation. Less than two hours. There's no way to master something in less than two hours (spread out over several weeks!)

Thus, any direct or indirect practice you can do will vastly increase the skill of your drive team.

1) Before shipping the robot, prioritize letting the drive team get their hands on the robot whenever possible. An incomplete robot with expert drivers will still be a force to be reckoned with, but an amazing machine with novices at the controls will generally be a disappointment.
--Even if your robot doesn't have the right mechanisms to push for a win by itself, showing that you know how to use it will often lead to being picked by other teams during alliance selection.

2) Have the drive team stick together, get used to each other as much as possible, and encourage a friendly rapport. Try to make sure they're doing the same activities, eating together, etc... this will help them develop efficient non-verbal communication.
--When your drive team really knows each other (whether from activities outside FIRST or from a relationship that develops on the team), you'll start to believe the robot is being operated by one incredibly effective person.

3) Try to maximize "time on the sticks" whenever possible. If this year's robot isn't available, have them drive the old one. There are meta-skills at play (changing your mental reference frame when operating tank drive, for example) that will remain constant across years.

4) If no robots are available, have them play co-op videogames. The best possible game I've ever seen for this is Mario Kart: Double Dash played in "coop" mode. One player is responsible for driving the kart, and the other has a host of smaller but key abilities. Sound familiar?
--Any other coop game will help. The goal is to promote teambuilding activities, increase the synergy of the drive team, and just spend more time getting used to the idea of operating a remote device while standing still.

5) If nothing is available, visualize. Have your drive team just spend time imagining matches, how they would respond to changing circumstances, how they'd move the robot around.