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Originally Posted by slickguy2007
When you guys pick drivers do you expect them to hold back in a match? Do you expect your drivers to protect the robot or to win at all costs(within reason)? What I am asking is do you pick someone who is aggressive or someone who protects the robot?
GO 1403!!!
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Well, are you playing the game or playing with the robot? You know why some teams pick drivers based on the hours they put into the build season? Because they know the robot and its boundaries. Corey and I know our robot inside out, at least the parts we need to. For e.g. our arm last year, that thing was a complicated beast. After burning the speed controller once, I knew it was programmed to send full speed pulses to the victors and since the motors weren't moving(force holding it back), they burned out. Knowledge about the robot helps. It's also called Maturity. Why would you want to break your robot and then win a match? At the same time, you want drivers who are not totally afraid of trying new things. Search back on posts by Karthik and other great mentors in FIRST. They have said enough about driver selections.
What I described until now is the robot aspect. The other aspect the drivers need to understand is how to interpret rules and strategy. This years game especially involves a whole lot of strategy. You want drivers who know what they're doing, the penalties, the goals, the alliance picking system. They need to be good scouts on their own. You don't want drivers who play with the robot, you want drivers who play the game within the realms of gracious professionalism and of course without damaging(at least severely, but you need to give some work to your pit crew too) your robot. Let me tell you something - Winning competitions come with experience. You can have the best robot in FIRST and still lose every single match of a competition if you don't know how to play the game. It takes a while to get used to the controls, the field in general, the behavior of alliances and opponents.
To conclude, FIRST is a very involving project just like any other sport. Pick drivers who are smart, mature and particularly those who really exercise common sense.
Good luck,
-Bharat