Drive Team

[PowerfulKitty]

It is my belief that the drive team should consist of the people who have earned it the most over the build season and over the years. These are the people who have logged the most hours in the shop and are on task and most productive. It is viewed as a privilege for our most dedicated members. Of course, their ability to drive the robot well is important too.

Edit: my point is that it does not matter where they come from

[Jarridj4009]

I'm the Captain of the "Robot"side of the team. The robot side consists of Design, drive train, fabrication, electrical, programming, and anything else that is directly part of the robot.
Last year we held driver try outs and we chose the following drive team to start.
Driver= Field build captain
Operator= Programming Captain
Commander= "Robot/Pit Captain" (me)
Human Player= Our crazy Ginger Field Build member

After the first two matches at our regional we made a change to the drive team after unsuccessful matches due to driver error. The new Drive team was as follows
Driver= "Robot/Pit Captain" (me)
Operator= Chasis/Drivetrain Captain
Commander= Design Captain
Human Player= Our crazy Ginger Field Build member

Due to graduations and additions to the team this year, my best guess for this years drive team will be as follows
Driver= "Robot/Pit Captain" (me)
Operator= Team Co-Captain
Commander= Programmer/rules expert
Human Player= Our crazy Ginger Field Build member

[Tammyo]

Our former drive teams have been a part of all the different aspects of robotics. The last couple of years they have been a part of mechanical and programming. Each member on our team that wants to be a part of the drive team has to pass the drive test and be a significant part of the build of the robot- that way they know the robot functions and its limitations. The theory of build team unable to be drivers would not occur as long as they understand how to control the robot properly. Overall, our drive team needs to be able to work together and communicate well.

[Landonh12]

Our drive team consists of:

Driver: Programming and Electrical lead (me)
Operator: Mechanical lead
Human Player: Most athletic person that knows the game well and gets along with the drivers
Coach: Future driver

We usually stick someone at coach who knows the game well and needs the on-field experience for future years. This is my first year leading drive team, as I was the Operator in 2013 and 2014. Made it to the finals and lost by a tie in F-3 at my first competition as a driver (2014 offseason event).

We value our drivers. Over the past few years we've had some great ones, including one that got us to the #4 seed on Curie in 2011. I'm excited to drive at my first regional competition at Bayou in March.

[Monochron]

Originally Posted by Landonh12

Our drive team consists of:

Driver: Programming and Electrical lead (me)
Operator: Mechanical lead
Human Player: Most athletic person that knows the game well and gets along with the drivers
Coach: Future driver

We usually stick someone at coach who knows the game well and needs the on-field experience for future years. This is my first year leading drive team, as I was the Operator in 2013 and 2014. Made it to the finals and lost by a tie in F-3 at my first competition as a driver (2014 offseason event).

A lot of teams designate their coach as the drive team "leader" so that drivers can focus on the second to second challenges of driving while the coach keeps an eye on the big picture. I'm curious as to reasons other teams would have the driver as the leader.

[brrian27]

Last year we had:

Coach- Team Co-President
Driver- Head of Programming
Operator- Head of PR
Human Player- Head of Mechanical

It was great having the head of programming as the driver (for 3 years) because he knew the controls and operation of the robot well.
PR really helped in strategizing and planning with other teams (extroverted, outgoing kid).
A skilled mechanic was extremely important to fix any pre-match issues. He even had to replace a wheel quickly before the Virginia Regional finals last year.
And as the coach, I'd like to say I knew the rules and strategies and could keep us calm under pressure.

[Boltman]

Easy:

Best driver
2nd Best driver
Best Human player
Best coach

Regardless of department

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Boltman

Easy:

Best driver
2nd Best driver
Best Human player
Best coach

Regardless of department

What is your definition of "best" in the above context?

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Boltman

Best driver
2nd Best driver

Base driver and operator require subtly different skill sets. The second best base driver has rarely been our best operator. In addition, the social dynamics between these two students are extremely important.

Hi guys, quick question. Is it legal for us to have an eighth grade member on drive team? I have checked both the game and admin manual and cannot find any stipulations other than, "team member" when referring to drive team. Thanks in advance!

Yes. Teams have done this before. The youngest I have heard of was a sixth grader.

[221Sarahborg]

Me and our other driver are best friends as well as overall team co-captains together with another junior on the team.

He is head of mechanical, knows pneumatics, and does CAD at the beginning of the build season. I'm head of electrical, website/design, and also help (not nearly as much) with CAD. Our drive mentor is also our overall team head mentor and mainly watches over mechanical. Our human player is head of our pit amongst other things.

I have never seen as much excitement mixed with anger when he gets behind the driver station and knows just as well as I do that there's a team on the other alliance that needs to just have a good ramming. And usually we're all extremely pumped up when he uses the ramming capabilities especially last year, and if you build your robot sturdily enough you shouldn't have to worry about the risks you need to take (which shouldn't be that much this year anyways).