Back when we started the team, I feel like the rift between robot and non-robot operations was less pronounced initially; because we were a very small group in the beginning, many of us had no choice but to jump from PR to robot, and back again. I know that even I built part of our 2011 chassis and hand-fabricated a couple of the wheels, and I became solely PR in the following seasons. As we grew, and as we became eligible for Chairman's, the divide began to grow. By 2013, my final year as a student, that division of sides was quite pronounced. There was the robot group, the e-board, and everyone else. Most of the e-board constituted the "everybody else" group, so the robot-builders were almost their own little island. That being said, we always tried to ensure that everybody had a basic understanding of both aspects, particularly those in the pit crew so that no question asked by a judge would ever come as a surprise. Once we won Chairman's at Gull Lake in 2013, there was this shift in attitude from the robot group toward the rest of us. There was never a sense of us having been looked down upon by them, but they certainly gained a newfound respect for what we did. We became more valuable. That's when the gap began to close again.
Now, the team has implemented mandatory training sessions for all students that cover every aspect of the team. If you don't have all the training sessions checked off as complete, you can't go to competition. And that includes both robot and PR related content. This is done with the intention of giving everyone a taste for both, not only to diversify each member's experience, but to further integrate the two "halves" of the team into one.
A toaster may have two (or sometimes four) separate slots, but it's still
one whole toaster!
