Driver Stress?

[dddriveman]

Drivers here is your chance to explain the amount of stress placed on you. This includes regionals and the weeks/days leading up to regionals.

This is my third year in FIRST and also as a driver. Two years for 979 and this year for1038, and for some reason i seem to be more stressed this year than any. As i think about the enourmous amount of responsibility and trust that is assigned to me. As i think more about it i relize that i am the one who is responsible for weither or not my team makes it to Finals, and or Nats. This year being on a team with a reputable past makes me extremly nervous. I know i will do fine, but the anticipation is what is killing me. Am i crazy or is this a universal anxity for Drivers and Operators.

[team222badbrad]

Being a driver is tough and always has been. This is even true more so this year because you will be driving in several more matches than in the past.

There are many responsibilities that go along with driving so just be sure you know them and carry them out!

Drivers stick with it, stay in the pits, talk with other drivers, know when your matches are, and most of all know your GAME!

Missing the good times I had as a FIRST robot driver! Why did I have to meet graduation requirements???

[TheMuffinMan]

Haha I know how you are, we're a rookie team, and we had several members afraid to step up to driving our bot, because of the responsibility. I play the most video games, so I'm most used to controllers and joysticks, I kinda had a natural knack for driving the thing. After our first practice round, we had a friend (now FIRST volunteer) say not to change the driver (me) because of how well we did. I feel pretty confident too, as a first year. We placed 7th out of 62 in our region, took home 2 awards (in my sig) and were beaten in the finals by the team that won the entire regional. My friend (who did the arm) was the one afraid of driving, but we worked really well with each other, especially when the arm stopped responding correctly and he had me playing defense like crazy (ran the Nasa Knights 122 up into a goal, hit creamed 1545 and 401, etc)

[JohnnyB]

I always get a little stressed as arm operator, especially with Paul Copioli standing behind me screaming at me. This year Im wayyyy more relaxed than last year though. This is my second year arm operating, and its much better this time around. I think its due to the fact that im very confident with the robot this year, whereas last years robot was very difficult to control and a little flawed in design.

I usually try to let off some stress by listening to some very loud music before Elims (usually some Devil Driver, Amon Amarth, Slayer, etc). That'll usually get my juices flowing, then I just try to follow Paul's orders and do what Im supposed to... concentration is key.

[henryBsick]

Don't worry about it all...
In the past 6 weeks...you've learned how to do some things you probably have never heard of before.
GO
HAVE
FUN
!!!!

[Jeff K.]

Ya it is very stressful in the operator station. I am a freshman and being a robot driver, I do get very nervous before the match. I was actually picked driver at a meeting that I didn't attend because I had been really busy with a project. The first match I competed in was at the regional and it was the first match our robot played in. I had been really stressed out because if anything happened to the robot or if we didn't win, chances are they would've blamed it on me. In that match, we were the only scoring team on our alliance. I felt more relieved after the match because I realized it wouldn't have been that stressful after realizing how well I actually did. It was a good experience, but then at another event the day after, I was driving the robot...and I wasn't as good as I had been the day before...and well...it just didn't really go so well ...but is it normal to have like, an offday?

[Ian W.]

I'm not a driver anymore, but I was for three years. I have to say though, the competitions were easy, it's the build season that was hard for me. The competitions, if my team was being stupid, I'd walk off and visit a friend until tempers cooled down, during build, not quite so easy.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I always get a little stressed as arm operator, especially with Paul Copioli standing behind me screaming at me...

You poor boy.
If you get tired of the abuse, feel free to join 229!

[Tytus Gerrish]

i don't get stressed. in fact while I'm driving i get board and start zoning out just being part of the machine. even with Dan yelling behind me, the crappy techno music and the screaming fans. they say alot of things that i should watch out for and all "don't do this do that make sure you wait for this Etc..." but it doesn't stress me. I'm not even stressed when I'm a minute from Que with my hands in our alliances robot fixing it. not stressed after drinking 30OZ of Bawls in the morning. Just haven't been stressed about driving in a long time. not since i started three years ago.

Actually, i think i Put all the stress on Dan and Amanda when they cant find me right befora a match.

[Tristan Lall]

Maybe I'm strange, but I never took it too seriously.

What? You exclaim!

I'm not being immodest when I say that I didn't feel pressured in the slightest when I drove in 2003. I had a powerful, fast and maneouvrable robot, knew its capabilities well, and, as the most senior student on the team, didn't have any peers to be afraid of, if I screwed up. Since I was also the one who designed the drivetrain, (and had fought with it in development) I knew what could go wrong, and knew how to fix it if it did. So I went in well-informed, well-equipped, and with three members of the drive team upon whom I could count.

We did rather well, if I might say so myself--a finalist at the Canadian Regional and a win at West Michigan, which qualified us for the Nationals in Houston, that year.

[Ianworld]

I'm an arm driver and Co-President of my team. I'm used to stress but driving is just crazy. As a driver, so many kids have the hopes and dreams of a robot they spent 6 weeks of their blood, sweat and tears resting in your hands. Every time we're out there I want to drive the bot to the limit of its ability to live up to my team mates hopes. Of course things never always work out right(popping two yellow balls in our last match last year ) and you have to go on.

The pressure though of driving the arm is nothing compared to driving the robot, the arm(well forklift this year) is much simpler to drive. It only goes up and down and has a couple other small functions. I knew driving the bot would be a bit much for me. So this year, I've got a new driver with me and he's an old friend, but he's also new and fresh. Its going to take a couple of matches i'm sure to get into our tetra tower frenzy/groove/thing.

Of course as a big engineer on my team, I also don't want to see the robot get destroyed. We've built a tough bot(slamming it into walls at 12 feet per second wheee! and a spring-loaded-knock-away tetra grabber) but some bots really hit hard. And if anything actually goes wrong on the field -- i'll be praying that our treads don't fall off every moment -- I'm sure i'll go insane.

Besides all that though, I love to compete. I love to finally have the opportunity to test my metal(pun intended) against other teams. To be down there with the bot I spent so many sleepless nights designing and building is an honor.

Just remember, always congratulate your drivers, they have a hell of a time. And remember if the robot stops moving in the middle of the field, or starts twitching, or slams into walls randomly, its probably not because your driver finally went insane(although it is a possibility) it could be the robot.

[SizzelChest330]

As a rookie operator Ive learned a few things to do and not do in the next competition

1. Stay completely focused on what your doing... even when you have a robot stacking / ramming right in front of your station

2. Take your time switching battery's... its not worth dropping it on your Robot Controller again.....................

3. Make sure you've set the right autonomous..because duh...
hope this comes in handy to anyone else

[sven]

For me last year, the most stress was the few mins before a match starts.

You have nothing to do and everything to think about.

Once I start the only person that I hear halfway is the base driver(i drove the arm) sometimes I hear the coach but last year me and the other drive got the hang of things to where all he had to do was say "lets cap", "lets hang", "I'm going to herd" or "get a ball" and we knew exactly what each of us needed to do.

This time around the game dosent look like it can be played like that, not sure yet as I haven't been to a comp yet (got one this weekend though ) and I have a new driver to train.

GL all, driving is not the easiest thing in the world.

[Dan-o]

I was the primary driver for MOE 365 in 2003 and I can say there's definitely a ton of stress at competitions. It's not necessarily generated by the team, but rather by the expectations you put on yourself. After making it through 2 ridiculous comebacks at Annapolis (1 by winning 68-67) I was so nervous that I felt sick. I have done some pretty nerve racking things in my life, but this seems to take the cake.

This year, I have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to be field coach for team 1493. Having been a driver, I feel that I have a better opportunity to make it easier for the drivers. My plan is to oversee the match, and tell the drivers in a calm, but quick voice what they should do next. At that time, I will sit back and wait until I need to give them another instruction. I'm hoping this takes a little of the nerves out of the picture so the drivers can perform to the best of their abilities.

[Dan Richardson]

I was a human player/driver for 4 years, the stress is HUGE. Because It always come down to you. 6 weeks of blood sweat tears and Jolt come on to your shoulders. Then there is of course your team that comes down on you if you make a small little mistake, especially when your team is one of those win or go home scenarios ( win a regional or no nationals type deal )

It can be a huge responsibility being a driver, You are your teams front line of representation. Many times the way a team is judged can come down to your drivers. This might not be fair but its reality, if you don't conduct yourselves in a GP manner then your team can get a bad rep for it. Many times when you talk to people who have problems with other teams it comes down to poor driver conduct on and off the field.

So as a driver its more a state of mind, to be able to take the beating when you need to, and always respond in a positive manner. You are the front line of politics, your the front representation of performance to the Judges. FIRST is the only TEAM sport thats played by a single person. Its hard but its the job, and somebody has to do it. Embrace the challenge succeed in it, and emphasize your efforts. But what I had to learn in my 4 years as a driver, even if you mess up and lose a match, or make a poor decision, and everyones torn apart in a heart breaker, don't let it take from the REAL FIRST experience. There is so much to be gained from these seasons aside from the great competition, only when you lose sight of that is when you could actually become the loser.

To Those who are about to do battle in a robotics game I Salute you


Dan