[alopex_rex]

First of all, the l_motor(1.0) call doesn't work because to drive the motor, you need to use the set function: l_motor.Set(1.0). What you have is meaningless, as l_motor is an object, not a function.

As for the arcade drive, I would try first using the ArcadeDrive function with constant inputs (ie ArcadeDrive(1.0, 0.0) ) and see what happens. That way you know the issue isn't with your joystick. It looks like you're using Talons for everything, but if the drive motors aren't talons then the way you initialized dragonBot won't work.

For testing purposes, don't bother with all the loops and timing; just try to run the motor if the button is pressed. The more complicated the code, the harder it is to find what's wrong.