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Re: Who should be driver?
To answer the first question: Driver Trials! It's different for each team. However, in Team 766, we hold driver trials for whoever wishes to drive and can be there for all the days of competition. Stress normally isn't a problem, but of course, it may be different for your team in particular. Driver trials this year, we set up a simple course with small, movable/delicate objects (fire alarm and a can of tip dip- with markings on the floor around them) and simply timed the driver potentials. Time and number of hits are recorded and taken into account. Also considered are experience and willingness to either learn strategy or take orders. This year, the scout leader, coach and box operator discussed strategy along with an extremely experienced team member, with the driver listening in/participating. And the entire drive team must be dedicated enough to learn the rules by heart, or risk a flurry of admonitions when they incur penalties.
To answer the second question: Currently, whoever wishes to be is coach. For the last couple of years we've had a mentor be coach, but this year a student asked to be coach, learned the rules, was to be present all the days of SVR and Davis, and discussed strategy, and was promptly handed the coach button. Remember, this may or may not work for your team. Coach should be able to keep a cool head, plan a strategy for the entire match, pull logical and workable tactics out of her or his ear as the match progresses and be on good terms with the scout/s. This last one is essential if they don't have the entire regional's worth of teams and their information stuffed into their heads, ready at a moment's notice. Granted, I have seen this sort of mental robotics competition encyclopedia whipped out time and again, so don't underestimate the mnemonic power of passion.
To answer the third question: We have a driver and a copilot. Our copilot is also our programmer, who pushes buttons/works a joystick (this year we had elevator control issues) that she wrote code for. Having two people drive the robot lets the driver focus on steering. The copilot essentially functions "as and extension of [the driver's] brain." (Taken directly from mouth of mentor.) So far, most teams use this approach that I've seen, and it works great because the steering driver isn't distracted by trying to find the buttons/other joystick, but our steering joysticks have no extra buttons on them (they are kit joysticks topped with screwdriver handles) except the gear shifter.
Wow, this has been a long post. Well, I wish you the best of luck, and I hope this has been helpful!
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"There's no finer engineering than pit engineering." -kaszeta
"Show a girl how to use a wrench, and she'll put those skills to use for a lifetime. Hand it to her and tell her she's probably better off shopping, and she'll clonk you over the head with it, do your pneumatics system, and CAD the robot." -Amanda Morrison
 '09
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