Optimal Characteristics for Pilots?

Competition Rules/Strategy
1

My team has started to think about choosing students for possible pilots, and are curious what other teams are thinking about as important characteristics for a pilot to have.

So far, we think that a pilot should have good communication skills, be very calm under pressure, should be tall enough to reach the single slot rotor, but not so tall that they can’t move around on the airship, and strong enough to crank the rotors once they’ve been filled with gears. Any additional thoughts?

2

It may be good for them to have good hand-eye coordination and is comfortable being in that semi-enclosed area with 120lb robots going at fairly high speeds, that may become an issue that isint seen till competition.

3

This thread - https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1633745#post1633745 - has some information on that topic. Honestly, being careful, quick, good at communication, and great with the rules is most important.

4

Yeah, I looked at that thread but it really only reinforced what we’d already assumed would be important. And we assume that anyone being placed on drive team will know the rules by heart, so I didn’t even think to mention that.

5

Everyone can tell your new here, but in the future try to keep your comments useful. This is a forum about FIRST, not an your Instagram comments…

6

I think we can all agree that priority 1 is a sweet costume. No team garbage either. IF you don’t have a vest, top hat and goggles or at least SOME brass, I, for one, will be very disappointed.

In addition, the pilot should:

  • Understand the game, and know their role in it - They need to not just watch their own robot. There are potentially 3 robots dropping gears, and only two pilots, so you’ll need to pick gears from another team’s robot.
  • Not sweat too much - you drop your handle, and it’s gone, baby! Maybe we need a hand signal. Also, it could be very disappointing to teams that just dropped a gear off to see you misplace it over the edge.
  • The accent is important. Not cockney, but close?
  • Some understanding of strategy - perhaps it’s not always best to spin the gears up immediately after placing them? Perhaps it’s not always best to place them immediately after getting them? Perhaps a spinning rotor is some information that you may not want to give your opponent?
7

They should have teeth. Preferably, good teeth, but any that can masticate and help provide sustenance will do.

8

I understand why some folks want to joke about this, that’s fine, but I also am thrilled that OP is taking this seriously enough to ask the right questions. For this game, more than any other in my memory, the choice of human player (Pilot) is critical, and not all students will be able to take on the role effectively.

My list:

  • Above average athleticism
  • Spacial awareness
  • Visual acuity
  • Reaction time
  • Communication skills
  • Game rules memorized

Individuals who meet these requirements might be found on basketball teams, ultimate frisbee teams, theater or dance troupes, etc. I recommend narrowing down a list of potential Pilots and getting them into training ASAP.

9

Have good back/shoulders to be able to lift up multiple gears without being tired. Its like a workout:D

10

1st rotor is relatively easy, but the other ones get harder to start, as number if plastic gears increase (topic is touched in field intro videos), so have some one who is strong. Like others said, some one who has presence of mind can assist your alliance. On glitz size have him wear nice costume, it will awe the audience. Be careful on using bright lights, if opposing alliance complaints about distraction/interference to robot, ref may not allow.

11

I’m looking for a mix of spotter, strategizer, and coach in my pilot. The physical tasks are easy. I don’t expect it to be as easy to track gear counts or even spot all the rotors quickly. So my ideal pilot:

  • Is watching the clock and our rotor progression, so we know when to cut bait and pump fuel. I expect several of our matches to stop at 3 rotors, just because of partners or glitches or defense or bad luck.
  • Is guiding the far-rope robot into position.
  • Might direct traffic a bit, to keep us from plowing others or being plowed ourselves.

We’ll be practicing it once we can get a little more of our robot together, so we can see what’s practical and helpful.