Hi, I was wondering what other teams are doing for roles on the drive team. So far my team has mainly relied on our driver for all decisions but I was wondering if other teams had people calculating SP or even deciding what stars to go for. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
One drives, second figures out what is happening on the opposing field and relays to driver, and third communicates to alliance partner…
Its one way of doing it. I think the third driver communicating to other alliance is critical.
I couldn’t agree more. The year @jacko won the world championship that was my only role on the team. I like to think at least one qualification match would have turned out differently without me there. The best team in the world would have lost another qualification match without good cooperation with an alliance partner.
Here’s how my team structured it this year:
Main Driver: Drove the robot, made most scoring decisions.
2nd DT Member: Called out strategic things (x robot is about to dump, block them), and suggested scoring opportunities.
3rd DT Member: Loaded Match loads, talked to alliance, and called out time (1 min, 45 sec, 30 sec, 15 sec, and whenever the driver asked.)
Usually all together: When to stop and do SPs, Pre-match strategy talk.
This is pretty much what we did
These all sound like great ideas, what would you guys suggest if I only have enough people for a 2 person drive team?
Recruit another team member.
Actually, my team is only made up of 2 drive team members. As said, what happens is usually like this:
Main Drive Team Member - Drives the robot, and usually stands next to the alliance driver for easier communication.
Secondary Drive Team Member - Points out areas to defend, time limit, strategic moves to save time before driver period starts, and adds suggestions.
Usually since we have two drive team members, the other alliance places the preload cube onto our zone for us.
On my team, I, the coach tell the driver what to do, as well as place the preload. The third member says things if I miss it. However, for worlds, inplan on trying to switch it so they put in the preload, as well as keep track of time, as well as telling us what the opponents are doing.
What I noticed is that many China and Singapore teams prefer a 3-man team going into the field - 2 for driving and 1 for coaching.
Depends on the complexity of the tasks and so now, but most of the time, one will be driving the base and the other control the arms and intake. The coach will be the decision-maker, timer-keeper, liaison officer with other alliances and also match loader.
I really think it is down to personal preferences… we have seen 2 or 3 man drive teams doing well in worlds.
My bad, when I said 2 person drive team I was including the driver
It’s expensive to get people to Louisville.
In my experience 2 controller drive teams do not work well, most robots only really have 3 parts (drive, lift, and manipulator). I find communicating with your partner takes more time than just doing it yourself. Of coarse this is just my opinion and with enough practice it could good.
As I said, it is down to personal preference.
Both 2 or 3 man drive team had won worlds driver skills challenge before.
What works (or not work) may not be the same for different teams.
I’ve never understood having more than one driver. In a match with some many things going on, it’s hard to stay on the same page - especially this year. I’ve had so many times when my drive coach tells me to do one thing while my mind is already processing doing another and moving in that direction. It’s not that one decision is objectively better, I’m not always right, but doing the suboptimal thing first and then getting to the next thing is better than a moment of indecision.
So this is considered the best match in VEX history. 1 of the robots had 2 drivers. It doesn’t look any less coordinated than any of the other robots. Most teams don’t have anywhere near enough practice to make 2 drivers work but it can be done. It is also logistically difficult because practice requires 2 people present.
Skyrise was also an easier game to have two drivers because it was slower paced and featured less interaction. Starstruck is a game of constant subjective decisions. Every team with two drivers in my state has looked dazed and disoriented, at least some of the time. It appears to be a handicap to be overcome, not a beneficial decision.
We tried using partner control on our first robot, it didn’t go so well.
Side note: Wait, was that @Karthik as the announcer?
Since I’ve started robotics back in Elevation, I have been coached to and have coached my kids on 2-drivers. One drivebase the other different subsystems.
If we’re competing at the World Championship, you best believe we have spent hours practicing together driving, and learning how to drive as one team. Of course matches have a lot of things going on.
Similar to @meng, we do the 2 Drivers, 1 coach. Our drivers are the ones executing on the field. They’re reacting on the field. Not thinking too much, reacting. The coach has a 4-fold duty. They’re the liaison to our alliance partner, identifying the time left in the match, the eyes on the field, and occasionally the match loader. It’s a lot. I liken it to say being the QB of a football team, or the PG of a basketball team.
It requires a lot of vision to be an effective drive coach.
I also don’t think your experience in Arizona, @aponthis is fully indicative of just a general handicap to overcome. We’ve had a bulk of teams in VA be 2-Driver teams. Even historically great programs such as 177 have been 2 drivers. So have some of our recent powerhouses like 1575.
Are you implying that Arizona isn’t the pinnacle of robotics? :o
The human brain can easily handle 3 things at a time if you program your robot decently. A single driver can communicate as close to perfectly as possible with themselves. I don’t see why two drivers would help when you practice driving enough to be second nature.