[ColleenShaver]

In terms of choosing people to attend competitions, we have a process we follow which narrows down the team to people that are really well-rounded and capable. From there, we choose people that have to be there in order for us to compete successfully (i.e. Drivers, pit crew, etc).

Step 1:
For the first time this year, we imposed a minimum number of meetings (10 from Sept until competition time) as well as a minimum number of hours people must contribute. Team members must put in at minimum 15 hours on one side (Operations or Support) and 5 on the other. They also have a general pool of 10 hours that can be met by doing anything related to the team (demos, competitions, etc). They may not earn more than 5 hours per week towards these hour goals.

Step 2:
Everyone interested in traveling with the team must take and pass a Rule Test with 100% accuracy. They may take in multiple times. The point is to ensure that team members know and understand the game and various rules that are especially pertinent to our robot playing the game.

Step 3:
Everyone interested in traveling with the team must take and pass a Technical Test. Here, members of the team in charge of Operations give everyone an oral quiz on various basic technical aspects (Describe a fuse and a circuit breaker and point them out on the robot) as well as specific aspects of that year's robot (What does CVT stand for and how does it?). This way we know everyone knows the robot reasonably well and is able to explain to any judges that come by what the robot does.

Step 4:
Knowing how many spots are open, assign people to travel who are necessary for robot function and have met previous qualifications. For instance, you need a robot driver and operator and a human player (we also have a method for doing unbiased driver testing/selection that we really like, PM me for more info). You need a coach. You also need experienced pit crew people to fix the robot when it breaks.

We typically take ~14 people out of 250+ on our mailing lists (college mentors and high school students combined). This process works pretty well for choosing the people who have really put in time and effort and are going to be valuable at the event.

Hope this offers you team a little help. It's still one of the most difficult parts of the whole thing (people have emotions, robots don't!), and our team has been in it 13 years! Any questions, feel free to contact us.

Best of luck!