Driving an FRC robot. Any job like it?

[Crew Cox]

Hi guys, I've been driving for my team for 2 years at this point. It is hands down the most fun/stressful/infuriating thing that I've ever done. Is there any job like it? Or should I just enjoy the next two years to the fullest?

[AdamHeard]

Sometimes at work I fantasize about being a giant bulldozer operator.

[Crew Cox]

Nice!
You know it's bad when you start dreaming of the few seconds between autonomous and tele-op.

[Chris is me]

Forklift driver? The combination of operating heavy machinery, communication, task completion, etc. seems right up that alley.

There's this dude outside the window to my office that gets to plow the snow out of a driveway in a Bobcat. He always looks like he's having a ton of fun, and without the stress of plowing on a street other people are busy using. I sometimes wish I had that job, depending on how badly the day is going.

[mastachyra]

What about UAV pilot or bomb defusing robot operator? I don't know how to go about doing that, but the military is probably a good place to start.

[Crew Cox]

Hmm, I do like the cold.
Bomb robot seems interesting, though (hopefully) sporadic employment.

[Poseidon5817]

How about just a regular old airline pilot? It's stressful like an FRC match, but instead of dropping 10 ranks if you mess up, you drop 30000 feet.

[Crew Cox]

So true

[Poseidon5817]

And it pays a lot better than bring a bulldozer driver

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Poseidon5817

And it pays a lot better than bring a bulldozer driver

Mining Dump Truck Drivers make 6 figures.

[Crew Cox]

If only dump trucks had joysticks.

[Poseidon5817]

Originally Posted by Crew Cox

If only dump trucks had joysticks.

Airbus planes do:

https://c4.staticflickr.com/5/4018/4...dd7cbe6a9b.jpg

[Crew Cox]

Originally Posted by Poseidon5817

Airbus planes do:

https://c4.staticflickr.com/5/4018/4...dd7cbe6a9b.jpg

O_O

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by Crew Cox

If only dump trucks had joysticks.

Haul trucks (dumptrucks) may not, but a lot of other heavy machinery and manufacturing equipment does (or has joystick-like controllers)! Sticking with the mining trend, many shovels and drills use joysticks, knobs, and a crazy array of buttons. I'm having a hard time finding pictures, but you can see some of the controls in the videos on some manufacturers websites: P&H (drill, shovel, loader), CAT shovel, and here's a really neat informational video that gives you a tour of the innards of a shovel.

Unfortunately, I don't think operating heavy mining equipment is very comparable to driving in FRC, aside from some similarities in controls. Your mileage may vary, but it is usually slow, solitary, repetitive work without much excitement (exact opposite of the FRC environment). It is a high-stress environment, though the stress comes from pressure to increase production and knowing that mistakes can be costly and sometimes extremely dangerous. I wouldn't consider myself an expert in this topic (again, YMMV), but I had an internship in an open-pit copper mine one summer during college, and one of the perks was getting to spend an entire day hanging out in the machinery and talking to the operators, which I found incredibly insightful.

[Crew Cox]

I have actually looked into some of those jobs. I don't know if I could deal with the monotony. Plus isurance wouldnt be cheap lol.