Drive Team Composition: 1 vs. 2 Drivers

Should one person control the whole robot? Or should you split it?

The “Solo” Driver

• Setup: One person. All subsystems on one controller (Shift+Modifers).
• Pros: Zero communication lag. I know when I am going to stop, so I know when to shoot. Flow state.
• Cons: Overwhelming cognitive load. Hard to map 20 functions to 10 buttons.

The “Pilot & Gunner” (Split)

• Setup: Pilot drives chassis. Gunner aims turret, manages intake, and shoots.
• Pros: Specialized focus. Gunner can track scoring elements while Pilot dodges defense.
• Cons: Lag. “Shoot now!” -> (0.5s delay) -> Shot. This disconnect causes missed shots.

The “Coach” Role

Don’t forget the 3rd person. The Coach does NOT touch the controller. They watch the clock. They watch the opponent. They yell “Switch to defense!” or “Go climb!”.

Verdict

• Simple Robot (Dumper): 1 Driver.
• Complex Robot (Turret + Arm): 2 Drivers.
• Top Tier Teams: Often revert to 1 Driver with extreme software automation (see our “Code Architecture” blog).