Who should be driver?

[arhajder]

I believe ideally it should be the programmer. That way hell be able to see where the robot is veering off or some other problem. This way hell be able to make the best judgment. Other than that see who is the best and let them be a secondary or even a primary.

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by arhajder

I believe ideally it should be the programmer. That way hell be able to see where the robot is veering off or some other problem. This way hell be able to make the best judgment. Other than that see who is the best and let them be a secondary or even a primary.

But what if it isnt a software problem?

*all the non-programmers in the topic gasp*

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by BigJ

But what if it isnt a software problem?

*all the non-programmers in the topic gasp*

*gasp*

You mean... programmers don't cause all of our teams problems?

(No offense to Billy and Zach- you know that I do appreciate the stuff you do, even if I don't understand it.)

[XXShadowXX]

team drivers should be
-good at driving
-know some grasp of engineering so they can do a on feild fix
-not crumple like alumium foil underpressure
-not need training to drive good, they have to have tallent, like our driver pro-temp. (3rd back up) really stinks, and will need about 3hr of training to work the controls
-humble, a driver with a bad attitude won't drive long, drivers need to accept that their position is one of the last things that first is about, they arn't here to show off, or hold it over peoples head that with out them they can't win, they can be replaced

[ajisjesus]

Our team

1) How does your team decide who drives?

we gave everyone a chance to drive but after close consideration we went with the two most talented and best cooperating duo.. Sam (arm operator) and JJ (driver).. these two drove our robot last year and we decided that it would be best to keep them because they have the experience... when choosing you need to find people who can keep cool and perform well under fire and think clearly when it gets down to those final seconds... (gets mighty tense and stressful during finals)


2) How does your team decide who is the "coach"? Do you have a mentor or student?

This year i was the "coach" last year i was the "human player". Last year our coach was our head advisor. I learned from him what i was supposed to do (scream out the times, stay out of the drivers way, communicate with the other alliance members, etc... I was first pick because i could best communicate with the other alliance members and our drivers...

3) Do you have one or two drivers? Why?

we choose two so that one person didnt have to stress under all the pressure that FIRST comps puts on a person... and because theyre great friends...

[Qbranch]

Originally Posted by smurfgirl

*gasp*

You mean... programmers don't cause all of our teams problems?

(No offense to Billy and Zach- you know that I do appreciate the stuff you do, even if I don't understand it.)

This year is/has been my first and last experience driving... but holding the driver position didn't change my position as software captain.

One negative to this that i've found is how difficult it is to make software changes since you're on the field so often... it makes things a little difficult.

-q

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Qbranch

This year is/has been my first and last experience driving... but holding the driver position didn't change my position as software captain.

One negative to this that i've found is how difficult it is to make software changes since you're on the field so often... it makes things a little difficult.

-q

Actually, this is why my team specifically tries to keep each person limited to one major role. We used to have a driver who also did energy management... he was super super busy. Same thing with the pit crew... Same thing with the safety captain... You get the picture. This is why we started to limit people's jobs, so that each person can focus on one thing and get everything straight.

[Uberbots]

Originally Posted by smurfgirl

*gasp*

You mean... programmers don't cause all of our teams problems?

(No offense to Billy and Zach- you know that I do appreciate the stuff you do, even if I don't understand it.)

No you dont

our driver selection process is pretty much predetermined. Our general policy is what ellen described above, but drivers who drive in the competitions typically are the ones who had developed the most and studied in the previous years.

This year we were especially lucky in having 2 very close friends operating the robot- each knew what the other was going to do before they did it, leading to a very well coordinated drive team.

[Mr.Rush]

We base it upon the work they put in and skill in the operation and repair of the robot as well knowledge of functionality. There a driving test as well as a written test, the problem we have is its hard to keep every one happy with this system.

This year for example our top pairings for Robocoach, and drive team were all from the electronics and programing teams. This made a lot of people complain that these teams had an unfair advantage because they are the first to operate the completed machine. On the other hand they also put in more time on average than any other sub team and did work out side of their chosen fields. In the end the winers won out, the drive team is 1 electronics member, a member of the animation team, and a programmer (the pit crew for finals is made up of two members of the electronics team, and a programmer)

[AustinSchuh]

Originally Posted by arhajder

I believe ideally it should be the programmer.

The funniest part about this statement is that on my team, the lead programmer (different person each year) has been the driver for the last 2 years. For us, it is most likely because the programmer is normally on the sticks the most before the drivers test working out bugs in the code.

To add to the discussion, we give everyone about 2-3 minutes on the sticks after the robot is completed and then have them drive a course in the classroom with me on the disable switch. The mentors then judge them on skill and it goes from there. We have decided that it is best to just decide who the driver is, and then spend the rest of our available time having them practice driving and working with the arm man.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by arhajder

I believe ideally it should be the programmer.

Heh. I've been telling everyone on our team lately to never let a programmer -- or a mentor -- drive the robot.

[arhajder]

Well our team is not as divided into the various comitteess. Even though we each have our own committee we generally can tell you anything about everything. It was generally about 5 or 6 of us that really worked on the robot while everyone else slacked. But we still believe the programmer is the best person to drive. All it takes is some practice.