Timid Drivers

[NOV8R]

Over forty years ago as a recent graduate engineer my first job had nothing to do with engineering but a lot to do with driving robots. I flew a jet interceptor and was taught a lot of things that translate into the making of a good drive team today. Such things as situational awareness, acm, startegy and tactics and there implementation. The most important thing that I learned then that I teach my students today is to 'think' not 'react'. There's nothing wrong with reaction and it will save your life in a an emergency. The problem with reaction is predictability. So what does this have to do with driving a robot? This past weekend at a scrimmage our robot was pushed by another robot during a match. So what did our driver do? He reacted and pushed back. If he would have thought and known where he was "situational awareness' he would have realized that he was only a few feet from the key and if he would have instead backed up he would have caused the other robot to commit a foul. Sometimes people see timid drivers as weak. I see them as smart and trainable.