Driver selection

[Billfred]

We had the same driver (and often the same operator) our first three years; both had to go and graduate after last year, so it was basically open call this year.

There were no official tryouts with this year's robot (we bagged a robot with a dead cRIO), so we plunked a Vex controller into last year's and drove it around. We knew it was not a true simulation (long base versus wide, different sprocket reduction and wheels, Cortex controller versus the driver station), but it helped us see who had the right mindset.

We took into account other things (reliability, personality, dedication, general "it" factor), and the mentors huddled and made our decisions. Human player was tag-teamed a bit, but our driver, operator, and field coach (our graduated driver now at USC) stayed constant over our season.

After coaching Peachtree and part of Championship last year, I was a little reluctant to give up the button, so I did pull our drivers aside at times to make sure our new coach was making the transition well. With good reports there, I left him to it.

My personal stance is that the field coach runs the drive team (and has a measure of control over the pit). Whether it's talking strategy, switching out a job, or making a change to the robot, it goes through him.

$0.03 (darn inflation)

[dag0620]

While 1071 doesn't have an exact formal protocol, we do have a mostly fleshed out process that we use to select our drivers.

Typically if one is interested in driving, they usually start the season prior doing as much driving as possible during off-season events. If someone is showing extra talent early on, they'll be responsible for all driving at WIWI (An off-season our team hosts). While none of this is part of the formal process, it's pretty much assumed that you need to go through off-season driving to get sirusly considered.

As soon as one of the robots are built, any interested drivers begin practicing as our mentors watch. Perspective Human Players also begin practicing during this time. We then hold the final try-outs at the Suffield Shakedown, as we can see the perspective drivers in actual matches. After that the mentors meet the night of the event, and decided who will be our Drive Team for that year.

Some other things we take into consideration when picking a Drive Team:
-It is a team rule that students can't be on Drive Team their first year.
-It is also a team rule that the Coach must be a student, and not a mentor.
-Although not a rule, Coaches are typically expected to have been a driver in a prior season.

Like I said before, it's not the most formal way of doing it, but it has worked for us, and has produced some pretty good results.

[sg999]

Thanks guys, this will definitely help with driver selection for next year. We'll certainly try to implement these ideas into driver selection for next year. Also, who exactly is it that has the final say on drivers? And how often do you change your drivers, as in are they different people each year or are they the same for all four years? How much time does your drive team practice after being selected?

[smurfgirl]

It depends what works for you, really... if you have a very student-run team, you might want to have students have the final say in driver selection. The mentors/adults can probably be more objective, though, since it's not their friends they're dealing with. The more objective you can make the selection process the better.

We redo the selection process each season, but often people end up driving for more than one season because they are the best fit for the position more than one year. I definitely think it makes sense to allow everyone interested to get a chance each season, but it would not be surprising if the most qualified person is the same for more than one year. You don't want to switch your drive team too frequently (multiple times per competition season, for example), though, because they won't have had as much time to practice driving or play in competition, and you also risk other teams losing familiarity with your drivers.

Practice is an incredibly important factor in success at the competitions. You want your drivers to have an innate feel for the robot so that they can operate it smoothly and focus executing your strategies, rather than trying to figure out how to pick up and maneuver the game piece for the first time. Successful teams may often have hundreds of hours of driver practice. The more you can practice, the better, especially if you can closely simulate competition (with other robots pestering you, full-size field, loud music, spectators, etc.). Since you're in CT, attending the Suffield Shakedown and other informal scrimmages/playdates with other teams is a great way to get some of this practice. You can also do it in your meeting place by getting a backup drive team operating a previous year's robot and playing defense with loud music in the background. Whatever you can do will help a lot.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by sg999

Thanks guys, this will definitely help with driver selection for next year. We'll certainly try to implement these ideas into driver selection for next year. Also, who exactly is it that has the final say on drivers? And how often do you change your drivers, as in are they different people each year or are they the same for all four years? How much time does your drive team practice after being selected?

1) The mentors huddle and reach consensus...but usually the kids make it easy for us by only having a couple of contenders.
2) A driver from a previous year has a natural advantage when we select the following year's drive team, though it isn't a lock. During the competitions themselves, I think I've pulled a driver once for an attitude check in all the years I've coached.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by sg999

Thanks guys, this will definitely help with driver selection for next year. We'll certainly try to implement these ideas into driver selection for next year. Also, who exactly is it that has the final say on drivers? And how often do you change your drivers, as in are they different people each year or are they the same for all four years? How much time does your drive team practice after being selected?

Most points were already covered by others but I will gladly point out that our drivers have to win their spot every year through tryouts. Just because you drove one year does not make you automaticly on the team the next.

Also our drive and strategy coaches have the final say on drivers after all quantitative and qualitative testing. That way we can factor chemistry, maturity, dependability and other subjective qualities. But we have a lot of history with this and after 10-14 years you can pick out the qualities that will help you best behind the glass.

[JVN]

I posted my thoughts on this last February:
http://blog.iamjvn.com/2011/02/robot...selection.html

My thought process hasn't changed.

TL;DR summary:
"Pick someone with strong work ethic, you can train a monkey to drive a robot, but you can't train them to work hard."

-John