Drive Team Manual

Rough Draft

This page is a rough draft and still needs to be edited

Purpose: This manual explains how our Drive Team prepares, communicates, competes, and improves.

Quick Links

• Drive Team Selection Criteria
• FIRST Robotics Competition Game & Season Materials

Table of Contents

1. The Drive Team’s Mission
2. Key Terms
3. Attitude and Conduct
4. Communication System
5. Role Responsibilities
6. Training Program
7. Offensive Driving with Swerve
8. Defensive Driving with Swerve
9. Practice Routines
10. Competition Procedures
11. Qualification and Playoff Differences

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The Drive Team’s Mission

The Drive Team’s job is to turn the work of the entire team into the safest and strongest possible performance on the field. A good Drive Team:

• Carries out an agreed-upon alliance strategy.
• Communicates useful information quickly and calmly.
• Adapts when the field, robot, or match plan changes.
• Represents the team with Gracious Professionalism.
• Returns accurate information to the pit and strategy teams.
• Improves through deliberate practice and honest review.

Being on Drive Team is a responsibility, not a status symbol. No one role wins or loses a match by itself.

Key Terms

• Alliance: The group of teams whose robots play together in a match.
• Alliance station: The area behind the field wall where the Drive Team operates during a match.
• A-Stop: A control-system command that stops the robot during the autonomous period only; the robot may still be re-enabled for teleop.
• Auto / Autonomous period: The portion of a match when robot actions are controlled by preprogrammed routines.
• Cycle: One complete scoring trip, usually from collecting a game piece through scoring it and becoming ready to collect again.
• Cycle time: The time required to complete a cycle.
• Driver Station: Depending on context, the alliance-wall position or the control hardware and computer used to operate the robot.
• E-Stop: A control-system command that disables the robot for the remainder of the match; unlike an A-Stop, the robot cannot be re-enabled.
• Eliminations / Playoffs: The tournament portion of an event after qualification matches. Current advancement, timeout, backup, and bracket rules vary by season and event.
• Enable / Disable: To allow or prevent the robot from operating through the control system. A disabled robot must still be treated with care because stored energy or unexpected motion may remain possible.
• Field-centric: A control mode in which the commanded direction is based on the field rather than the robot’s current facing direction.
• Foul / Penalty: A consequence assigned for breaking a game rule.
• Game piece: The season-specific object robots collect, move, or score.
• Gracious Professionalism: Competing intensely while treating others with respect, sharing knowledge when appropriate, and acting with integrity.
• Human Player Station: A season-specific field location where a Human Player may introduce or handle game pieces or perform other allowed actions.
• Mechanism: A robot assembly that performs a task, such as an intake, elevator, arm, shooter, or climber.
• Pinning: Restricting an opponent robot’s movement against a field element, robot, or boundary. The exact definition, count, release distance, and penalties are season-specific.
• Protected Zone: A field area where contact or interference may have special restrictions.
• Qualification match / Qual: A scheduled match used to determine ranking before playoffs.
• Queue: The staging process and area where teams report before entering the field.
• Ranking Point (RP): A value used to determine qualification rankings. How RPs are earned changes by season.
• Swerve drive: A drivetrain whose wheel modules can independently steer and drive, allowing the robot to translate in any direction while rotating.
• Teleop / Teleoperated period: The portion of a match where the robot is driver controlled.
• Traffic: Robots occupying or crossing the same routes, creating delay or collision risk.
• Win Condition: The result the alliance is trying to achieve. In qualifications this may include RPs as well as winning; in playoffs it is advancement.

Attitude and Conduct

Gracious Professionalism

Drive Team members are among the team’s most visible representatives. Gracious Professionalism means we can compete hard without treating another person as the enemy.

We will:

• Speak respectfully to partners, opponents, volunteers, referees, and one another.
• Be honest about our robot’s capabilities, limitations, and condition.
• Help alliance partners make a plan that gives the whole alliance its best chance.
• Thank alliance partners after every match, regardless of the result.
• Ask rules questions calmly and through the correct process.
• Keep disagreements about ideas, never personalities.
• Celebrate without taunting and lose without blaming.
• Never damage, intimidate, deceive, or exploit another team.

Gracious Professionalism does not mean avoiding difficult strategic conversations or refusing to play legal defense. It means having those conversations directly, fairly, and respectfully.

Managing Nerves

Nerves are a normal physical response to an important task. The goal is not to eliminate them; it is to keep them from controlling attention and decisions.

Before a match:

1. Prepare the controllable things. Know the plan, robot status, starting position, and first action.
2. Use a reset breath. Inhale gently, exhale longer than the inhale, relax the shoulders, and repeat two or three times.
3. Shrink the task. Think about the first action, not the entire match.
4. Use a consistent routine. Follow the same setup checklist every time.
5. Use helpful self-talk. Replace “I cannot mess up” with “See the field, communicate, and do the next job.”
6. Say something early. Tell the Drive Coach if nerves are affecting memory, vision, breathing, or control.

During a match:

• Return attention to one cue: see, decide, act.
• If unsure ask, “Coach, priority?”
• If a mistake occurs, continue playing. Analysis waits until after the match.

Managing Frustration

When frustrated:

1. Stop blaming and describe only observable facts.
2. Take one breath before transmitting on-field information.
3. Ask for the next priority.
4. After the match, take a brief cool-down before reviewing if needed.
5. Use the review format: What happened? Why? What will we change?

Unacceptable responses include yelling at teammates, striking controls or equipment, arguing with officials, insulting another team, throwing objects, reckless robot contact, or walking away without transferring a responsibility. Anyone who feels unable to continue safely must tell the Drive Coach immediately. Asking for a break is responsible.

Communication System

Good communication is short, specific, timely, and directed to the person who can act on it.

Communication Priority

1. Safety
2. Robot-threatening condition
3. Rule or foul danger
4. Strategy change
5. Routine status

Use names or roles when a command could be ambiguous. Repeat critical commands. Avoid long explanations.

Standard Calls

The team should practice a small vocabulary and use it consistently:

Call	Meaning
Stop	Immediately command the robot or mechanism to neutral; used for safety.
Hold	Maintain position or current safe state until released.
Clear	The relevant path or mechanism is safe to use.
Abort	Stop the current action and move to the rehearsed fallback.
Reset	Return the named mechanism or control state to its defined ready position.
Next	Current task is complete; begin the next planned task.
Priority?	The caller needs one clear next objective.
Last Cycle	Complete one more scoring cycle, then transition to endgame or the named task.
Endgame Now	Stop cycling and execute the endgame plan.
Dead	A robot or mechanism is not responding; name which one.

Avoid vague calls such as “over there,” “do the thing,” “watch out,” or “hurry.” Replace them with a direction, object, or action.

Role Responsibilities

Driver

The Driver controls the robot’s drivetrain and is primarily responsible for safe movement, positioning, route choice, and awareness of nearby traffic.

Before the match

• Perform robot pre-match checklist.
• Understand the match plan, starting position, autonomous selection, first teleop action, and endgame trigger.
• Know which alliance partners need right-of-way in shared routes.
• Follow the team’s pre-match procedure.
• Verify the robot starting positions and orientation.
• Inspect and test the assigned controllers and driver station with the Operator.

During the match

• Maintain awareness of the robot, field, partners, opponents, and game pieces.
• Create stable scoring positions; do not force the Operator to compensate for unnecessary movement.
• Choose the most productive route, not automatically the shortest route.
• Drive predictably near alliance partners and avoid blocking their scoring routes.
• Follow the agreed plan and the Drive Coach’s strategic calls.
• Report loss of control, poor traction, steering errors, impacts, unusual sounds, or blocked sight-lines.

After the match

• Follow the team’s post-match procedure.
• Give factual feedback about handling, steering, traction, vision, collisions, and controls.
• Identify the location and type of any robot damage.
• Participate in review without assigning blame.

Driver boundaries

The Driver does not independently rewrite alliance strategy during a match, command repairs, or override the Operator’s mechanism safety call. The Driver may always stop for safety.

Operator

The Operator controls the robot’s mechanisms. The Operator is the primary authority on mechanism state and readiness.

Before the match

• Perform robot pre-match checklist.
• Know the planned game-piece sequence, scoring targets, autonomous routine, and endgame procedure.
• Verify the Driver knows what robot movement is needed for each mechanism action.
• Follow the team’s pre-match procedure.
• Verify that mechanisms begin in the correct legal and safe configuration.
• Inspect and test the assigned controllers and driver station with the Driver.

During the match

• Track whether the robot has a game piece and communicate possession clearly.
• Move mechanisms when the expected path and robot position are safe.
• Report jams, sensor disagreement, failed actions, or loss of mechanism control immediately.
• Prepare the next action as early as possible, without violating rules or interrupting the driver.
• Announce endgame readiness and completion.

After the match

• Follow the team’s post-match procedure.
• Place mechanisms in the defined transport-safe state when directed.
• Report jams, impacts, slow movement, sensor problems, unexpected automation, and manual overrides.
• Identify the location and type of any robot damage.
• Participate in review without assigning blame.

Operator boundaries

The Operator owns mechanism safety but does not drive strategy alone. If Driver and Operator inputs conflict, safety calls take priority and the Drive Coach resolves the next action.

Human Player

The Human Player performs season-specific tasks from designated field locations and often has a unique view of game-piece availability, field congestion, or scoring status.

Before the match

• Know every rule that directly affects the Human Player station, game-piece handling, body position, timing, and interaction with robots.
• Confirm the alliance’s loading or delivery plan and how partners will signal requests.
• Follow the team’s pre-match procedure.
• Inspect allowed station equipment and game pieces when permitted.
• Know the alternate plan if a station is blocked or a game piece is unavailable.

During the match

• Perform only actions allowed by the current game rules.
• Watch for the requesting robot before introducing a game piece or taking another season-specific action.
• Communicate availability, blockages, missed transfers, and urgent rule risks.
• Keep hands, clothing, and equipment within required boundaries.
• Do not distract the Driver with information the Drive Coach already has unless it is urgent.

After the match

• Leave game pieces and field equipment as directed by field staff.
• Report unusual station behavior, shortages, obstructions, or rule concerns.
• Follow the team’s post-match procedure.

Human Player boundaries

The Human Player never reaches, steps, releases, throws, or retrieves based on habit from a previous game. The current game manual and Head Referee instructions govern.

Technician

The Technician supports the Drive Team in queue, during field setup when allowed, and after the match.

Before the match

• Confirm the robot, bumpers, Driver Station, controls, required tools, and permitted spare items are present.
• Follow the team’s pre-match procedure.
• Watch for loose connectors, damaged bumpers, debris, or mechanism interference without delaying field staff.

During the match

• Move to the location assigned by current event rules.
• Observe robot behavior if a useful view or event display is available.

After the match

• Follow the team’s post-match procedure.
• Perform a quick visual damage check before movement.
• Keep the return path clear and help the team leave promptly.

Technician boundaries

The Technician does not make unapproved repairs in queue, bypass inspection requirements, enter the field early, or promise that an unknown issue is fixed. When in doubt, report and escalate.

Drive Coach (Usually a Mentor)

The Drive Coach coordinates the alliance plan and protects the Drive Team’s attention. The Coach should guide decisions without trying to operate every role.

Before the match

• Lead alliance discussion respectfully and ensure every team understands the plan.
• Along with the Lead Scout, use scouting information and current robot status to make realistic recommendations.
• Ensure the Driver, Operator, Human Player, and Technician can repeat their key responsibilities.
• Resolve conflicts before the team reaches the field whenever possible.
• Confirm starting locations, autonomous paths, traffic rules, scoring priorities, defense responsibilities, endgame timing, and fallbacks.
• Follow the team’s pre-match procedure.

During the match

• Track the clock, broad field state, alliance progress, opponent behavior, and strategic priorities.
• Give one clear priority at a time and announce major transitions early.
• Warn about traffic, defense, rule risk, failed partners, and changing win conditions.
• Trust the Driver and Operator to execute details they can see better.
• Keep communication calm; urgency should shorten the message, not increase its volume unnecessarily.
• Never instruct intentional rule violations or unsafe behavior.

After the match

• Thank alliance partners and keep the team professional during field exit.
• Follow the team’s post-match procedure.
• Make sure technical symptoms reach the Technician and pit crew quickly.
• Lead or delegate a short factual debrief.
• Delegate questions for referees using the current event process and only when a legitimate clarification is needed.
• Protect students from immediate blame, public arguments, or emotionally charged review.

Coach boundaries

The Coach must not drown out useful student communication, demand unsafe actions, argue with event staff, or use humiliation as motivation. The goal is to develop a student team that understands and executes the plan.

Training Program

Training should progress from individual control to full-match decision-making. Speed is added only after the team can perform safely and consistently.

Stage 1: Controls and Safety

• Identify every control, indicator, preset, and emergency response.
• Practice enable/disable and neutral hands.
• Demonstrate the mechanism envelope and safe-person distances.
• Practice loss-of-control, stuck-command, and communication responses with the robot safely supported or mechanisms disabled as appropriate.
• Walk the field and name zones, routes, sightline problems, and hazards.

Stage 2: Isolated Skills

• Straight-line acceleration and controlled stopping.
• Strafing while maintaining robot orientation.
• Rotation in place and rotation around a chosen field point.
• Approaching a target from multiple angles.
• Game-piece acquisition from good and poor orientations.
• Scoring alignment, release, and clean departure.
• Manual mechanism recovery and preset recovery.

Stage 3: Repeatable Cycles

• Link acquisition, route, alignment, scoring, and exit.
• Record success rate and cycle time.
• Require clear Driver–Operator calls.
• Practice both preferred and alternate scoring locations.
• Add time pressure only after the movement is repeatable.

Stage 4: Traffic and Defense

• Add static obstacles, narrow routes, an alliance partner, or a defending robot.
• Practice right-of-way and collision avoidance.
• Practice abandoning a blocked route without freezing.
• Train legal defense and escape techniques at controlled speeds first.

Stage 5: Match Simulation

• Use match timing, introductions, setup, autonomous, teleop, endgame, and field exit.
• Vary alliance plans and robot failures.
• Debrief and select no more than two changes for the next repetition.

Offensive Driving with Swerve

Swerve enables translation in any direction while rotating, but freedom of movement does not replace route discipline.

Core Principles

1. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
2. Look ahead of the robot. Aim vision toward the next open space, not only the bumper.
3. Accelerate and stop deliberately. Maximum input is not always maximum progress. Wheel slip, tipping risk, mechanism motion, and traffic can erase gains.
4. Keep useful orientation. Face the intake, camera, scoring mechanism, or next route toward the work whenever practical.
5. Use field-centric control intentionally. It simplifies field-relative movement, but the Driver must recognize loss of heading calibration and know the fallback.
6. Drive smooth arcs. Combine translation and rotation when it saves time without reducing acquisition or scoring consistency.
7. Create space for the Operator. A stable final approach often scores faster than a rushed approach followed by multiple corrections.
8. Exit before celebrating. Clear the scoring area so partners can use it and begin the next cycle immediately.
9. Protect the vulnerable side. Avoid exposing extended mechanisms to traffic or walls.

Offensive Styles

Use the style that matches the robot, field, and alliance plan.

• Lane runner: Uses predictable travel lanes and repeatable approaches. Strong when traffic rules can be agreed upon.
• Open-field cycler: Chooses routes dynamically based on traffic. Requires strong awareness and communication.
• Short-cycle specialist: Works a nearby source and scoring location repeatedly. Useful when long routes are congested.
• Cleanup scorer: Collects loose or missed game pieces. Useful when the normal source is slow or the field accumulates pieces.
• Precision scorer: Prioritizes high-success placement or a specialized scoring task over raw cycle count.
• Hybrid offense/defense: Scores until a planned trigger, then defends or blocks a route. The transition must be called clearly.

Swerve Approach Patterns

• Straight approach: Fast and simple when the target is aligned and clear.
• Strafe correction: Preserve facing while making a lateral adjustment. Avoid repeated left-right oscillation.
• Arc approach: Rotate and translate together so the robot arrives in scoring orientation.
• Drive-by acquisition: Maintain motion through the game piece when the intake supports it; confirm possession before accelerating away.
• Square-and-settle: Brake, align, and stabilize before a precision score.

Traffic Rules for Alliance Partners

Agree before the match on:

• Preferred outbound and inbound lanes.
• Who has right-of-way near shared sources and scoring areas.
• Passing side or fallback when robots meet.
• Where a robot should wait without blocking.
• What happens if a partner becomes disabled in a lane.

Predictability is usually more valuable than gaining half a second through a surprise maneuver.

Defensive Driving with Swerve

Defense is successful when it reduces an opponent’s productive time without creating fouls, damaging robots, or abandoning a more valuable task.

Core Principles

1. Know the current rules. Review protected zones, contact restrictions, extension rules, pinning, and endgame protections before playing defense.
2. Defend a route or space, not a person. Position the robot to make the opponent take a slower path. The goal is slow scoring not stop scoring.
3. Stay goal-side when useful. Keep the defender between the opponent and its destination.
4. Use the bumper and chassis, not a mechanism. Keep mechanisms in the team’s defensive-safe state.
5. Approach under control. Match speed and absorb space; do not build up for high-energy impacts.
6. Move laterally with swerve. Strafe to mirror an opponent while maintaining a safe bumper orientation.
7. Force decisions. Delay the opponent, make it turn, or send it toward congestion.
8. Leave before the foul. A good defender knows when to release a pin, clear a protected area, or abandon a risky engagement.
9. Listen to the Coach. The Coach can see time, other threats, and accumulating foul risk.

Defensive Styles

• Shadow defense: Follow at legal distance and occupy the opponent’s preferred route.
• Lane denial: Guard a high-value corridor or choke point while leaving a legal escape path.
• Goal-side containment: Stay between the opponent and scoring location and mirror its lateral movement.
• Source disruption: Legally make collection or departure less convenient without entering protected space.
• Zone defense: Control an assigned region and hand off opponents rather than chasing across the field.
• Delay defense: Consume a specific amount of time, then return to offense or endgame.

Escaping Defense with Swerve

• Identify the defender before contact and choose an exit early.
• Change speed and direction deliberately; random joystick movement wastes traction.
• Strafe away while rotating the protected or durable side toward contact.
• Use legal field space and partner traffic to make the defender choose.
• If trapped, stop forcing the same direction. Back out, rotate, or take the alternate lane.
• If the route is no longer productive, change targets and tell the Coach.
• Use a pick-and-roll when helpful: position the robot as a moving screen to shield an alliance partner from a defender, then clear out (roll away) so the partner can use the opened lane.

Practice Routines

Every practice begins with a safety check, clear field boundary, working emergency stop method, charged battery, inspected bumpers, and a briefing on who may enable the robot. Use spotters when sight-lines or people near the practice area require them.

How to Measure Practice

Track a few useful measures rather than only “felt fast”:

• Successful acquisitions out of attempts.
• Successful scores out of attempts.
• Average, best, and worst cycle time.
• Time lost to realignment.
• Driver–Operator communication misses.
• Contacts with obstacles or partners.
• Fouls or simulated foul-risk events.
• Correct response to injected failures.

Video is useful when available. Review the robot’s route and decision timing, not just the final score.

One-Robot Drills

These drills use only the drivetrain — no mechanisms are needed. They build the fundamental control skills every other drill depends on.

Straight-Line Stop Grid

Mark four stop lines down a straight lane at increasing distances. The Coach calls a line; the Driver accelerates, then brakes to a full stop exactly on it.

• Focus: Throttle control and stopping distance at different speeds.
• Success looks like: The robot stops within a small tolerance of the called line, without overshooting or crawling in too cautiously.

Strafe Box Drill

Mark the four corners of a box. The Driver traces the box by strafing only, keeping the front of the robot pointed in the same direction the entire time.

• Focus: Lateral control and field-centric awareness, independent of which way the robot is facing.
• Success looks like: The robot completes the box without rotating and without cutting corners.

Rotation Clock Drill

Set eight cones in a circle around a fixed center point, numbered like a clock face. The robot stays centered and rotates in place to face whichever number the Coach calls.

• Focus: Precise heading control without drifting off the center point.
• Success looks like: The robot rotates directly to the called cone and returns to a neutral heading on command.

Cone Weave (Slalom) Drill

Set cones in an offset zig-zag line down a lane. The Driver weaves through them while keeping the front of the robot pointed down the lane.

• Focus: Combined translation and steering while avoiding obstacles.
• Success looks like: The robot clears every cone without contact, with speed increasing over reps as control improves.

Multi-Angle Squaring Drill

Mark a small target zone at one end of the practice area and three starting positions (A, B, C) at different angles to it. The Driver starts from each position in turn and arcs smoothly into the target.

• Focus: Arc approaches and squaring up to a target from varied starting angles, simulating different match situations.
• Success looks like: The robot arrives squared up and fully stopped inside the target from any of the three starting positions.

Two-Robot Offensive Drills

These drills use two drivetrains only — no mechanisms — and simulate alliance partners needing to share space. They build teamwork and control in tight corners.

Shared Lane Merge Drill

Set up a single-lane corridor with two cones marking a gap narrower than two robot widths. Robot A starts at one end and Robot B starts at the other; each needs to reach the opposite end through the same lane, threading the gap one at a time.

• Focus: Communicating right-of-way and timing passage through the gap without a full stop or collision.
• Success looks like: One robot calls and takes priority through the gap while the other holds back, and both continue without contact.

Scoring Zone Crowding Drill

Mark one scoring zone with two approach lanes converging on it from different angles. Both robots start on their own lane and need to score in the same zone.

• Focus: Taking turns and communicating spacing when both robots want the same space at the same time.
• Success looks like: Robots call "1st" and "2nd" and alternate access to the zone with no collisions or hesitation.

Crossing Paths Drill

Set up two diagonal lanes that cross near the center of the practice area. Robot A drives one diagonal, Robot B drives the other.

• Focus: Predictive driving and calling out priority early enough that speed can be adjusted before reaching the crossing point.
• Success looks like: One robot clearly clears the crossing point first and neither needs an emergency stop.

Pick-and-Roll Screen Drill

Place a cone or marker to represent a defender. Robot A (the screener) parks beside the marker to block it; Robot B (the scorer) curves around the screen into the open lane toward a target, and Robot A then clears out.

• Focus: Coordinated teamwork — one robot creates space for a partner, similar to a basketball screen, then clears the area.
• Success looks like: Robot B reaches the target without deviation, and Robot A rolls away promptly instead of lingering or blocking the target itself.

Two-Robot Defensive Drills

These drills use two drivetrains only — no mechanisms — and simulate an opponent playing defense. They build defense-avoidance instincts and teach the Driver to read pressure and manage timing.

Shadow Escape Drill

A "defender" robot parks directly in front of the offense, blocking the lane the way most in-match defense actually happens. Instead of stopping, offense loops around the defender's side and continues forward on the same heading.

• Focus: Recognizing a defender blocking the direct path and executing a controlled loop around its side without contact or losing control.
• Success looks like: Offense completes the loop, comes out past the defender, and keeps moving forward without stopping or backing up.

Blocked-Route Reroute Drill

Set up two lanes side by side, each marked by three evenly spaced cones in a grid, simulating a field element that blocks off part of the field. A defender (or the field element itself) blocks the primary lane, so offense must recognize this early and drive the full length of the open lane instead, passing through all of its cones on the way to the target.

• Focus: Recognizing a blocked lane early and committing smoothly to the open lane, without freezing or hesitating.
• Success looks like: Offense drives the full open lane, passing through all of its cones, and reaches the target without contacting the defender or the field element.

Corner Pin Avoidance Drill

The defender works to push offense toward a marked field corner.

• Focus: Recognizing a developing pin before it closes and exiting through the open diagonal.
• Success looks like: Offense clears the corner before being trapped between the defender and the wall.

Game Specific Drills

Unlike the drills above, these require the current season's scoring mechanism. The setups are intentionally abstract so they can be adapted to any year's game piece and scoring rules, while teaching the lasting skill of finding, acquiring, transporting, and scoring a game piece.

Ground Pickup and Deliver

Place one game piece at a marked ground spot. The robot starts elsewhere, drives to the piece, picks it up, then delivers and scores it.

• Focus: Basic acquisition and delivery — driving to the piece, picking it up cleanly, and scoring without dropping it.
• Success looks like: The piece is acquired and scored in one continuous attempt, without a re-approach.

Moving Target Retrieval

Before each rep, a teammate tosses one or more game pieces to random, unmarked spots on the field — no predetermined locations. Multiple pieces may be in play on the field at the same time, simulating how game pieces actually end up scattered during a match.

• Focus: Awareness and adaptability — spotting where the piece landed and adjusting the route on the fly rather than driving a memorized path.
• Success looks like: The robot locates and retrieves the piece from wherever it landed, then scores it.

Multi-Piece Cycle

Place three game pieces at increasing distance from the scoring zone. The robot cycles through pickup, score, and return for each piece in order.

• Focus: Repeatable cycle execution and cycle-time tracking across pickup, score, and return.
• Success looks like: All three pieces are scored in order with consistent, improving cycle times.

Human Player Exchange Drill

Mark a Human Player Station location. The robot drives to the station, receives a game piece, then delivers and scores it.

• Focus: Coordination between Human Player, Operator, and Driver during the exchange and delivery.
• Success looks like: A clean handoff and score, with clear verbal calls between all three roles.

Full-Match Simulation

A strong simulation includes:

• Queue and setup checklist.
• Driver Station connection.
• Randomized alliance plan.
• Autonomous routine and transition.
• Live match clock and scoring calls.
• At least one injected change: blocked route, failed mechanism, disabled partner, lost game piece, or strategy change.
• Endgame trigger.
• Field-exit and technical report.
• Two-minute debrief.

Do not inject real electrical, pneumatic, mechanical, or control-system hazards. Simulate failures through announced constraints or safe software/practice settings approved by technical mentors.

Competition Procedures

The current game manual, event staff instructions, and team safety procedures always override this general checklist.

Pre-Match

Before leaving the pit

• Robot has completed the team’s mechanical, electrical, software, and battery checks.
• Correct bumpers and required identification are installed.
• Driver Station computer, controls, cables, and approved spare items are ready.
• Known limitations or changes have been explained to the full Drive Team.
• Match number, alliance color, station, and queue time are confirmed.
• Autonomous routine and starting configuration are available and tested as appropriate.
• Drive Team members have needed safety equipment and credentials.

Alliance strategy discussion

The Strategy Team leads, but all relevant Drive Team members participate.

• Confirm each robot’s current capabilities honestly.
• Agree on starting positions and autonomous paths; check for interference.
• Define scoring roles, routes, traffic rules, and right-of-way.
• Decide whether and when anyone will defend.
• Agree on Human Player actions.
• Define endgame positions, timing, and space needs.
• State fallbacks for disabled partners, blocked routes, failed autonomous, and missed endgame.
• In qualifications, identify RP objectives and the point when the plan should change.
• In playoffs, identify the score or time conditions that trigger a strategic change.

In queue

• Keep the robot attended and follow queue staff directions.
• Avoid unnecessary mechanism movement or last-minute changes.
• Driver and Operator mentally rehearse the first 15 seconds and endgame.
• Coach repeats only the essential plan: start, first task, traffic rule, endgame, fallback.

At the field

• Wait for permission to enter and follow the designated route.
• Lift and place the robot using trained technique and approved handholds.
• Confirm correct station, orientation, starting location, and legal starting configuration.
• Connect the Driver Station and verify team number and communication status.
• Select and confirm the autonomous routine using the team’s procedure.
• Remove carts, tools, covers, pins, and other non-field items as required.
• Each role reports ready; the Coach performs the final visual check.
• Once field staff begin the match-start process, stop unnecessary interaction and follow instructions.

During the Match

Autonomous

• Driver and Operator keep hands in the required position and observe robot behavior.
• Coach watches alliance paths and prepares the first teleop call.
• Human Player performs only season-allowed actions.
• If autonomous behaves unexpectedly, remember the robot’s location and state. A-stop if necessary, do not panic or interfere illegally.

Teleop opening

• Driver calls unexpected position, orientation, or control response.
• Operator confirms mechanism state and game-piece possession.
• Coach updates the plan if autonomous results changed traffic or scoring priorities.

Mid-match

• Driver owns safe motion and route execution.
• Operator owns mechanism state and calls possession/readiness.
• Coach owns clock and broad priority.
• Human Player communicates station-specific information.
• Use short standard calls and repeat critical transitions.
• If the robot partially fails, state what still works and use the rehearsed fallback.

Endgame

• Coach gives the warning and transition calls at rehearsed times.
• Driver acknowledges and selects the route.
• Operator prepares and confirms the endgame mechanism.
• Human Player performs any season-specific endgame responsibility.
• Protect alliance space and avoid last-second actions with unacceptable foul or damage risk.
• If the preferred endgame fails, execute the named fallback rather than improvising silently.

Match end

• Release controls to neutral when the match ends.
• Do not touch field elements, game pieces, or the robot until permitted.
• Observe the robot’s final state and any visible damage.
• Remain professional regardless of the displayed score or referee signals.

Post-Match

Field exit

• Wait for field staff to declare the field safe and allow entry.
• Driver Station remains controlled by the assigned person.
• Designated team members verify disable status and perform a quick visual check.
• Lift the robot safely and leave without delaying field reset.
• Thank alliance partners; save detailed review for a safe location.

Immediate technical report

Use observable facts:

• When: Match phase and approximate time.
• What: Command given and response observed.
• Where: Robot side, mechanism, or field location.
• Impact: What stopped working or changed.
• Current state: Whether the problem continued, cleared, or is unknown.

Example: “With about 70 seconds left, after contact on the intake side, the front-left module steered but did not drive. It remained that way through match end.”

Avoid: “The drivetrain was weird” or “Programming broke it.”

Debrief

Keep the first review short so the pit crew can work.

1. What did the robot do unexpectedly?
2. What strategic assumption changed?
3. What communication worked or failed?
4. Is there an urgent rules or alliance issue?
5. What one or two changes will we make next match?

Longer video and data review can happen when time permits. Critique decisions and systems, not character.

Referee questions

• Use only the current event’s approved question process.
• The designated student representative should know the relevant rule and ask a clear question.
• Ask to understand a ruling, not to accuse or demand.
• Video normally cannot be used as evidence unless current rules explicitly permit it.
• Accept the final decision professionally and return useful information to the team.

Qualification and Playoff Differences

Qualification Matches

Qualification strategy must consider both winning the match and earning season-specific Ranking Points.

• Alliance partners change from match to match; build a plan that respects each team’s strengths.
• Honest capability sharing is essential because partners may have little experience working together.
• A late-match choice may prioritize an achievable RP even when the match result appears decided.
• Every match provides scouting information; expect opponents and future partners to be observing.
• After the match, maintain relationships. Today’s opponent may be a later partner.

Playoff Matches

Playoff strategy focuses on advancing under the current bracket and series rules.

• Alliance roles are usually more specialized and rehearsed.
• Plans should include adjustments for repeated opponents.
• Review opponent changes between matches and do not assume the previous plan will work unchanged.
• Timeouts, backup robots, repair windows, advancement, and tie procedures are season-specific; designated team members must know them exactly.
• After a match, determine timing before beginning major work or changes.
• During alliance selection and playoff preparation, communicate capabilities and repair status honestly.

Decision Comparison

Topic	Qualifications	Playoffs
Primary result	Ranking outcome, including current RP system	Advancement under current bracket rules
Partners	Often new each match	Usually the same playoff alliance
Strategy	Adapt quickly to varied capabilities	Refine specialized roles across matches
Opponents	Broad preparation	Deeper preparation for likely or repeated opponents
Risk	Balance match goals with event-long durability	Deliberate series/bracket risk based on advancement needs
Review	Build general learning and scouting knowledge	Make targeted adjustments before the next playoff match

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Document Ownership and Review

The Drive Coach and designated student leaders should review this manual:

• After the annual game release.
• After significant robot or control changes.
• Before the first competition.
• After each event when the team discovers a missing procedure.

Changes should be explained to the full Drive Team and practiced before they are relied upon in a match.