How do you drive your robot?

[ClayScales]

Team 231 has, for the last several years, used a single joystick. We definitely prefer the older, black joysticks. Depending on the robot, we sometimes use the joystick trigger and/or top button for functions, and compliment these with control panel switches, levers, buttons or custom interfaces (last year we fabricated a two joint control, simulating our arm, that worked intuitively and perfectly) for whatever other functions we need.

This year found us using the joystick only for steering. Our ball pickup was controlled by a 3-position toggle: balls in, off and balls out for scoring to the corner. Another 2-position toggle powered our spinning wheel ball shooter. We used the brake function of the speed controllers and momentary push buttons for brake steering (one each for left and right, great at high speed) that we mounted on either side of a momentary push button used for shooting (the trigger). Another 2-position toggle overrode the targeting sensor shoot function (which we unfortunately had to use... arena and ambient lighting usually defeated our targeting sensor).

Although the control panel was designed so that the driver could operate all functions, we found that having the co-driver operate the override, shooter (driver pushed the trigger) and balls in/off/out functions worked best.