One or Two Drivers??

[Jay O'Donnell]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Agreed. We used a single controller this year for our entire bot.

We did actually use the rumble capability. Essentially when our shooter motors were moving fast enough to shoot it would rumble. The controller also did pulsating rumbles in the last 25 seconds of the Match to remind me to park on the batter. It was pretty useful.

The rumble usage is really clever. I'll be pushing for 229 to use it in the future.

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell

The rumble usage is really clever. I'll be pushing for 229 to use it in the future.

Just letting you know, in case you get some ideas, we used rumble for:

• buzz once alerting me if a boulder was successfully picked up
• buzz twice alerting me when a boulder was shot out
• 4 second buzz last 30 seconds to let me know to get my final shots in
• buzz the remaining last 15 seconds to let me know to climb

[thatnameistaken]

As someone who's worked with 3 different operators as well as flown solo over my 4 years, I think I can provide some unique insight here.

First of all, I feel that 2 drivers, if done right, is superior. I find that the less mechanisms I have to worry about controlling, the easier it is to avoid and outmaneuver opposing defense bots. This is because operating said mechanisms usually requires a close eye on our robot, which frequently leads to tunnel vision. I experienced this first hand in 2014, where I had control of loading our ball into our catapult after it was inside our robot. Many times after the ball was securely in place, I would look up from our robot and be surprised to see defense right in front of us. Conversely, in 2013, my freshman year, I had NO mechanism control; and even though I was less experienced, I generally knew where each robot on the field was and where they were going at all times, because I was able to dart my eyes around the field while keeping track of our robot in my peripheral vision. I was able to outmaneuver many defensive bots as a result.

There are exceptions, though. In 2015, there was no defense to worry about; additionally, our robot was a simple forklift with just 2 functions. So, that year I controlled everything myself, and it really wasn't an issue. Additionally, this year, we found ourselves with extremely low practice time (read: none at all). I was more confident that I could learn to control everything faster than 2 of us could learn to coordinate (our previous operator had graduated as well). I went ahead and flew solo at our first competition, and minus mechanical issues with our bot itself, we did alright. For our second competition, we used our unbag time to train up another operator, and I can say that I felt more comfortable not having to worry about controlling every little aspect on our robot.

As for doing unpracticed stuff on the fly -- from my own experience, if your 2 drivers are compatible enough, this is just as easy (sometimes easier, even) with 2 as it is with 1.

[cpiravi]

I personally think its better to have two drivers. It is helpful because they can each focus on their job, and it is less pressure on just one person.
This year we had a lot of different mechanisms on our robot, including a turret with a vision tracking system. I was the operator, and our driver and I were also driver and operator together with the same drive coach during an off-season event in China, so we had that advantage. We also had a very rigorous practice schedule, we meet every day at our practice field (50+ hrs/week) to practice as soon as our practice bot was ready. Over time, we came up with code words so we could communicate quickly during matches. One interesting feature we had was our driver's controller would vibrate while I was vision tracking, so he would know not to drive the robot while I was tracking the target.

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by cpiravi

We also had a very rigorous practice schedule, we meet every day at our practice field (50+ hrs/week) to practice as soon as our practice bot was ready. Over time, we came up with code words so we could communicate quickly during matches.

And that's exactly the problem. A lot of teams don't have the resources to have time to practice on their bot, and especially don't have a practice bot..

[Chief Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

And that's exactly the problem. A lot of teams don't have the resources to have time to practice on their bot, and especially don't have a practice bot..

Let's not let this thread be hijacked by this... please.

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by Chief Hedgehog

Let's not let this thread be hijacked by this... please.

Yes, Yes. Your right, sorry guys. My bad

[Chief Hedgehog]

4607 uses a driver and an operator. This allows for our driver to concentrate on what they can do best - and the operator make split second decisions that the driver may not be able to. We are not married to this - but it served us well this year as we played a lot of breach and shooting early on and then transitioned to defense later in the season.

We have tried to stress a drive team that is built up over events/years of experience. In previous seasons, as our team was young and did not have the personnel resources the first few years, we had to do with what was available.

However, now we are striving to keep at least two of the Drive team members in the arena from year to year. As the lead mentor/head coach I feel that having experience on the field come eliminations serves the team better than having just talent.

Case in point, our driver this year was a major part of the strategy and scouting of our 2014/15 campaigns and was the driver at 2014 MRI. Our coach this season was our operator in 2015, and our operator was the driver in 2015. Our human player this year was one of our lead build members this year as well.

Next year we will be returning our operator and our coach - but they may not serve in those roles. We like to have students move away from their roles from the previous seasons as it allows more peer to peer mentoring and allows for duplicity in all areas.

As for the drive team, we feel that having a blend of students with the backgrounds in strategy/scouting, build, programming, electrical, and wiring on the team serves us well.

[hutchMN]

2502 used one driver in 2015, but it was with a driver that had three years of experience. The robot was difficult to drive, but he was able to handle it so we used the extra driver as an extra human player to pass totes. Most years we have used two drivers including this year.

[messer5740]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

Its not crazy at all. When we get to a regional, the first match, and maybe the second, (and also any key elimination match) my entire body will be shaking, but my hands are always steady.

Adrenaline rush! Love it- makes me perform better.

[amritparmanand]

1991 uses 2 drivers, one driving, and one auxiliary. We have found it much easier to let the driver work solely on the movement, and the auxiliary on everything else. The more that we worked together, the better we got. At the end of worlds we were very good with out communication and we were having a fun time while also doing well in the matches.

[droneexpert87]

Has anyone ever thought of using three drivers? One to be an operator, one to drive the front wheels, and one to drive the back. The advantage of this is that just in case one of your drivers gets injured during a match, you still have two wheels driving instead of 0.

[messer5740]

Originally Posted by droneexpert87

Has anyone ever thought of using three drivers? One to be an operator, one to drive the front wheels, and one to drive the back. The advantage of this is that just in case one of your drivers gets injured during a match, you still have two wheels driving instead of 0.

I would most likely keep one person driving. Some robots do use tank drive, meaning is you want to go left right or even straight, it would be very difficult to communicate. If you are using mecanum or swerve, I think that would also be an issue, for strafing would be very difficult to get the correct amount of force needed to strafe in the desired direction.

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by droneexpert87

Has anyone ever thought of using three drivers? One to be an operator, one to drive the front wheels, and one to drive the back. The advantage of this is that just in case one of your drivers gets injured during a match, you still have two wheels driving instead of 0.

You would have to give up your human player (based on rules of the past few years at least), and space would get crowded behind the glass.

[jSchnitz]

Originally Posted by messer5740

I would most likely keep one person driving. Some robots do use tank drive, meaning is you want to go left right or even straight, it would be very difficult to communicate. If you are using mecanum or swerve, I think that would also be an issue, for strafing would be very difficult to get the correct amount of force needed to strafe in the desired direction.

First rule of the internet: don't feed the trolls.

Back on topic, 1986 almost always uses two drivers. One has control of the drivetrain and shifting, and any functions that take over the drive (autoaim, auto-cheval). Everything else is on the other operator, so that the main driver can focus on driving. Lots of practice is required to execute this well, although the same is true of any setup. A great coach is essential as well, so that everyone is on the same page all the the time.