[Kit Gerhart]

My "new" team, Team 1062 had only three students who were seriously involved in the robot build, and they took turns driving at our one regional.

My old team, TechnoKats, conducts tests for driving skill which we try to design to simulate what will go on in real matches to the extent possible. Written tests of the rules are also given. We try to come up with the best two or three drivers/operators/human players and rotate them in the early qualifying rounds at the first regional the team competes in. We have normally tried to pick a "best" person for each position by the time the alliance selection begins. This is often difficult. There are a few unofficial tie breakers in the process, including level of contrubution to the team, general attitude, willingness to accept coaching, seniority on the team, etc. A few times we have had an obvious "best" person to be driver or operator, but usually the decision has not been so easy. The final decisions on driver/operator selection are done by the adult coaches on the team, but I suspect that in nearly all cases, the students would agree with the decisions.