Who should be driver?

[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

[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.

[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.

[647techangel]

[quote=markulrich;722911
1) How does your team decide who drives?
2) How does your team decide who is the "coach"? Do you have a mentor or student?
3) Do you have one or two drivers? Why?
[/QUOTE]

1)for us its usually vets who have been in first for at least 2 years
2)our mentors refuse to do this they say its up to the students, so we pick students who have just joined to give them a feel of FIRST
3)it depends on the game and control board

[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.

[Viper37]

Originally Posted by markulrich

1) How does your team decide who drives?
We held our first driver try out this year because our previous driver (myself) found myself in mandatory retirement due to the fact that I graduated.

We set up our test fields and previous years robots. We then test the drivers in a variety of situations. Fine control, peripheral vision, navigation, time management, etc..

We also test them under stress. We get a good crowd of students and kids age 6-18 to cheer yell and scream while the drivers are being tested. We also have a Former Marine Drill Sgt. who yells and screams all sorts of colorful things. Its a great way to measure someones breaking point.

2)How does your team decide who is the "coach"? Do you have a mentor or student?
Thats always been an issue for us. In years past the coach was whoever wanted to do it. We don't really have a procedure for coach selection. We usually use a student, but on occasion we have fielded a mentor.

3)Do you have one or two drivers? Why
Two. The task of navigating the robot around a busy and crowded field (IE Rack N Roll) is enough of a task in my opinion. Being a former driver myself, I know for a fact that is a big job. Our second driver is the arm/lift/shooter/operator. This works great for us because the workload is split in half. Also, while the second driver isn't doing anything, he/she can act as an auxiliary coach so to speak.

I hope that helps.

[Gboehm]

The driver must have a relationship with the robot, the driver should talk to the robot, speak soft encouraging words to it. Pet names are also a good idea. If the driver does not love the robot, how can the driver learn to trust the robot. The driver-robot relationship is one of love, if you love the robot, she/he will never fail you, she will go that little bit, the limits can be pushed, and she will take ya the distance that equals the amount of love you have for her. I can think of some of the greatest conversations I had with my robot, she never let me down. I loved that robot... It brought a tear to my eye when she was scrapped for parts...

[Mike M.]

After being on both sides of an FRC drive team (driver then coach) let me throw in my $0.02 on what it takes to make a successful drive team.

First things first I think that the drive team should be made up of two drivers one who controls the base of the robot and another to control the manipulator of the robot. This allows each person to concentrate on exactly what they need to do, instead of for example the base driver worrying about where the robot is and manipulating an arm at the same time.

The selection of a drive team is a process that really needs to be started as soon as possible so the driver and operator learn how one another thinks and can anticipate the needs and movements of the other. In the end the drive team should be made up of the people who can prove that they can handle the robot the best out on the field. If at all possible it is best to have the drivers work with a robot even if it is not the current years robot. Just getting the drivers stick time will allow them to get used to driving a robot and working as a single unit out of the playing field. If old FRC bots are not available working with a VEX bot is similarly useful.

After giving everyone who wants a turn to try out for the drive team it should start to become apparent who handles the robot well and who works well in at team. Once the field of applicants is beginning to narrow down it become the time to choose the primary drive team and the backup team. It is important to stick with a single drive team throughout a competition that way the drive team gets more and more time with the robot the really gets to meld into a single unit working smoothly with each other and the robot thus letting them have more fun out on the field and also perform better.

The final decision of who is drive team should come down to a number of things. Their actual performance driving the robot. This can be determined anywhere from a simple timed obstacle course or all the way to driving a full up match at a pre-ship competition. Knowledge of the rules must be tested as well. The drivers need know the rule so that they know what they can and cannot do on the field. Also in case something seems off in a match they can go to the head referee and intelligently voice their concern and back it up with knowledge of that years rules. This is can be done with an easy multiple choice quiz of something more challenging such as giving them some scenarios that might occur during the match and have them explain whether or not what occurred was legal or not and why.

A secondary or backup drive team should always be assembled too. This allows in case for some reason one of the primary drivers cannot make it to a match or competition a trained person to jump into the team and make it seem as though nothing has changed. In this respect the backup team should work very close with the primary team to ensure that they do in fact have a good feel for the robot and the other drivers. Lets say you have a driver practice the backups should have almost as much stick time as the primary team does this way if they are called upon driving is already second nature to them. Also it is a very good idea to have the secondary team take one of the practice matches on Thursday of the regional competition so they are used to being down on the field in front of a crowd.

In my experience the coaches that have the greatest impact on the success on the drive teams are the ones that are able to get their drivers to relax when they are behind the glass and just focus on the task at hand and not worry about little things that are not currently affecting that match. Having said this some of the best coaches that I have seen are college students and mentors that were FRC drivers or operators in high school. They have the advantage of knowing exactly what a driver needs and doesn't need to know during a match. 99.9% of the time the drivers don't need to know which way they need to move a joystick. They need information that will allow them to simply carry out what is needed in that match. Example they don't need to know to go left around the track but they do need to know to things like get between team xxx and that red track ball or we've got 10 seconds left drop whatever you are doing and get the other alliance's ball off of the overpass.

It's not quite as evident as in past years but the human player and this year robocoach selection should mirror the driver selection closely. The person that is the best at accomplishing the task that is needed of them should be the one doing it out on the field at competition. As determined by a test using what is required of them to accomplish in that year.

One final word of advice if your drive team isn't having a good time out there it might be time to change the way you are doing things. Remember a happy drive team is a successful one.

MikeM.

[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.

[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)