Driving Practice

Driving skill wins more matches than almost anything else. Many experienced builders say driving ability is the single biggest factor in winning, and some teams arrive at events having barely driven their own robot.[1][2] This page covers how to practice, radio settings that help, basic strategy against common opponents, and driving with the judges in mind.

Safety: only run your weapon inside an arena or a test box. For driving practice outside, remove or disconnect the weapon, or lock it.

Start early

Get your robot driving as early as possible in the build, and practice as much as you can before the event. One common suggestion is to build a cheap, simple "junk bot" first, just to learn to drive.[3]
Practice hitting things before the event, too: don't let the first time your robot hits something be at the tournament.[4]

Drills

Team Run Amok suggests drills like these:[5]

Figure eight around two objects, as smoothly as you can. Then do it in reverse.
Numbered targets: chalk six numbered circles on the floor; a friend calls out numbers at random and you drive to each one as fast as you can. Add obstacles as you improve.
Push into a corner: push several loose objects into one chosen corner.
Line up and hit: back far away from a target, line up, and hit it at full speed.

Other useful practice:

Chase a moving target, such as a cheap RC car driven by a friend.[6] A real opponent will come at you rather than run away, so practicing against another combat robot is even better.
Drive upside down. Robots get flipped all the time. When inverted, forward and backward swap, and with practice it becomes natural.[7] (See Self-Righting.)
Drive on half a drivetrain: disconnect one side and learn to limp around. It happens in matches, and under SPARC rules a robot that can still move in a controlled line isn't counted out.
Practice in a real arena whenever you can, for example at a club build night.

Radio settings that help

See Radios, Radios/Mixing and Team Run Amok's Transmitter Tweaks guide:

Trim the drive so both sides start moving at the same stick position, with the wheels off the ground.
Dual rates: lower the steering rate (for example to 50%) for precise driving, with a switch for full rate.
Expo makes the stick less sensitive near the center while keeping full speed at the ends, which helps with fine control.
End points: turn down the faster side so the robot drives straight at full speed.
Invert switch: many radios can flip the controls for driving upside down. Some drivers find switching distracting and simply learn to drive inverted.[8]
Gyros can help some robots (especially two-wheel designs) drive straight, but they can cause uncontrolled spinning when the robot is upside down, so have a way to switch them off.[9]
After changing trims or mixing, re-check your failsafe.

Strategy against common opponents

These are general guidelines, not rules – every matchup is different. See Weapons for how each weapon type works, and the NHRL guide to common robot types for strengths and weaknesses.

Vertical spinners and drums turn more slowly when their weapon is up to speed, because of gyroscopic forces (see Spinner Design). Moving around their side can work. A wedge can be a big target for a vertical spinner.
Horizontal spinners cover a wide area. A low, strong wedge can get under them, and tipping them up can make them unstable.
Spinner against spinner: going weapon-to-weapon usually favors the faster or more energetic weapon. If yours is weaker, avoid weapon-to-weapon hits and aim for other parts of the robot.[10]
Wedges and control robots win more often than many people expect – in one study of beetleweights, wedges won 65% of their matches.[11] Against them, avoid getting pushed into walls and hazards, and keep your weapon pointed at them.
Flippers and lifters try to flip you or pin you. Have a plan for being upside down.
Hammers and axes hit the top of your robot, often its weakest part. Keep moving, since hammers are hard to aim.
Undercutters sit very low; they can struggle on rough floors and are vulnerable once flipped.

Arena awareness

Know where the pits, hazards, push-outs and corners are before the match starts.
Under the standard SPARC Match Rules, pins are limited to 5 seconds (stationary) or 10 seconds (active), and a robot that enters a pit or push-out zone loses. If you push your opponent in but get stuck yourself, it counts as both robots entering.
Avoid getting stuck on walls: under the standard un-stick rule, you don't get an un-stick if your opponent put you there.

Driving for the judges

If the match goes to the judges, how you drive matters. Under the SPARC Judging Guidelines, robots score for engagement by attacking, chasing and pinning, and lose points for sitting and waiting or running away. Short pauses to spin up a weapon or self-right don't count against you, and being slow isn't held against you either. Many builders' best advice is simple: go for the knockout, and try not to need the judges at all.[12]

Simulators

There's no widely used driving simulator for combat robots, but Robot Rumble 2 is a free game where you can design robots and practice driving them.

Driving Practice

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