Best Pit You've Seen

[Bryan D]

Hey everyone out there on CD...I was wondering what's the best pit designs/setups you've seen this year? (Excluding your own) If you have a picture attach it as well, I'd love to see some of the other pits out there, I've really only got to see the ones in Canada.

[Allison K]

If I were to Judge...

Overall Best - 503 (Frog Force) - It's really cool looking and it's functional. It even has track lighting! They had a display area with buttons and give away's, and all of the tools were all nice and organized.

Most organized - 217 (Thunderchickens) - All the tools always looked all neat and organized and put away, and their battery charging area looked organized as well. And as an added bonus they had some neat little machines.

Most Noticable - 365 (MOE) - That great big neon green tower is difficult to miss.

Sorry I don't have any pictures, maybe somebody from one of those teams does.
~Allison

[xzvrw2]

i personally like 503's pit. it is so cool i could hang out there all day. it helps that the people on the frog force are really nice.


thanks for testing that victor out for me at the Detroit regional.

[Kyle]

Team 87 cause its just cool
103 it is so clean and nice
357 The video and all the Pics are cool, and the streamers are awesome to
341, its Miss. Daisy thats all i can say.

There are more and I will think of them later.

[StephLee]

I love MOE's pit, just because of their tower.

[Joe Matt]

341, 173, 365, and 93. :)

[Zoheb N]

Team Fusion and the CyberWolves.

[Koko Ed]

Any FIRST pit is my favorite because that means I'm enjoying a FIRST competition so I'm just plain happy anyways.

[Bill Moore]

. . .
103 it is so clean and nice
. . .

Not only "clean and nice", but they pack up very quickly. Both nights at Philly, shortly after the end of the Award Ceremonies, I went back to congratulate them on how well their team performed and they were gone. While all other teams were just wishing they could answer the dinner bell, the Cybersonics were. No nonsense, no wasted moves, just get it done and move along.

103, loved your robot at Philly. I scouted you on Friday and it was a breeze as always. "Got a tetra, stacked a tetra, got a tetra, stacked a tetra, got a tetra, stacked a tetra . . . ". If I get to scout you at Championships, with your consistency, I probably can catch a much needed nap. :D

Good Luck in Atlanta!

[Vin211]

I would have to say the best looking Pit I have seen has been.....:::drum rolling::::

2 3 6 TECHNO TICKS!

I just love the way they have their pit setup with sky lighting, videos playing, and a rotating Dominion sign. Way to show your sponsors!

Also, if you're a team sporting a Canadian flag, that's awesome too!


Peace!

[DarkJedi613]

356 - MOE's huge tower (and every tool imaginable)

357 - Nice set up with the computer/tv, etc.

341 - Come on, the flowers...

:)

[thoughtful]

I have only been to GTR and Waterloo.

I think the best looking pit is....
Team 48 Delphi ELITE

:)

[sammie771]

I think that I would have to say the best looking pit is 773 Kingsville Kukes. They have this cool rotating Kukes sign and a wall of shelves. They even have a cuby set up like a coat rack!

Perhaps I am simply jealous because our coat rack is a turquoise tupperware container.

[omutton]

I liked MOE's pit, it's awfully.......green!

[Arefin Bari]

When you get a chance you should stop by team 45 (Technokats) and team 111 (Wildstang) pit. They are very organized, including tools and parts of the robot. A lot of displays are around the pit. All the things are labeled. I went over to their pit at Midwest last year and it was just amazing to see how every single pit member knew where exactly their parts are.

[JulieB]

I like 1284 DART robotics they have a unique pit very well organize as good as you can be in robotics

[tiffany34990]

i forget the team number right now but @ palmetto their was a team w/ another level basically...it was interesting to watch them put it up then they had to lawn chairs up there... we were thinking we all should do that and put a jacuzzi up there to relax between matches :p

343, 342 always are neat too and love the great balloon up with 343 is always fun.

[Jverdon]

Team Fusion

Thankyou, we spent a good part of 3 weeks working on it and it turned out just the way we wanted. It was a pain in the but to lug around but it was worth it. We hope to see all the other pits in ATLANTA and come by and stop in and check us out.

[BandChick]

I really like 103's pit, and 272 had an awesome theme. so does 87.
and I [heart] the tower in 365's pit, like everyone else.

[dubious elise]

Teams 1024 (Kil-a-bytes), 111 (Wildstang), and 45 (Technokats) all have, not only great organizational skills, but also smashing color schemes that carry through to their robots and team shirts. I don't remember the number, but a team called Frost-Byte had a very cool (no pun intended) display around their pit made out of styrofoam coolers that had been bonded together in the shape of an arch.

[pickle]

I agree, Team Fusion had one of the coolest pits I've ever seen in my 2 years... Though it seemed to take most of thursday to set up, it looked amazing when they were done.

[Billfred]

I agree--34(2/3) have great pits.

And Tiffany, if memory serves me right, that was 1320 with the second level.

(Then again, I also can't sleep on 1102, M'Aiken Magic. They've got the castle thing going pretty well.)

[bhweezer]

I agree, Team Fusion had one of the coolest pits I've ever seen in my 2 years... Though it seemed to take most of thursday to set up, it looked amazing when they were done.

That was probably the worst part of our pit. It was supposed to be able to set up in 30 minutes or less, but none of the students have even touched it in six weeks. We should be able to set it up in Atlanta a lot faster.

[Scott Chambliss]

From Peachtree....

Team 1414 IHOT - Their towering, flag-bedecked pavilion towered over the Peachtree pit area. By the way, you guys are my (second, besides mine) favorite team!! Go IHOT!! :D :D :D
Team 1102 Maiken Magic - C'mon, its a castle, folks...

[ForgottenSalad]

870 - Team R.I.C.E.

Basically from watching them pack up... They pretty much had everything they needed for their pit neatly put away in their crate, along with the robot... With the pit set up, they had a great display, and one of the neatest, most organized, most functional pits I saw at SBPLI.

[Joe_P.]

i agree with Scott, and i have one more pit to add

team 1002- the circuitrunners: they had the whole thing: past awards, kiosk with information, organization of tools

[av11d]

Considering we usually go to the same regionals, we always have the pleasure of being right near 103. Their pit is awesome. Very neat and organized. Not to mention that kick-$@#$@#$@# plasma screen. I don't see them working on their bot too much.. a testament to how reliable their robots are. They're always very friendly, too.

Team 103 gets my vote for the best pit. I'll be on the lookout for some more cool pits in Atlanta though.

edit: Ironically, this is my 103rd post.

[whakojacko]

well for west coast, 254's pit is NICE. Clean, well layed out, and very cool looking

[Wetzel]

116 and I think 118 combined their pits at Nationals in 2000. Golf course complete with green carpeting and a rotating windmill, smoothie bar, microwave, refridgerator...

It was awesome.

More recently, 365 and 343 have impressed me with asking them for a certian size nut or bolt, and they go, ok, and open a few drawers and then hand you what you are looking for.

Wetzel

[Scott Ritchie]

1024 has my vote.

All that 80/20 and blue and yellow signs around the top with the addition of the overhead projector this year. This to me is the cleanest smoothest pit in FIRST.

Others I've liked:
868 Tech Hounds (Simple yet effective enough to Keep everything out in the open)

342 Burning Magnetos (Awesome custom made everything)

111 Wild stang (Very cool banner in the front)

45 (When they used the display with the large prints of their stuff 2001 I think)

[Conor Ryan]

haha, as i read i noticed streaks of teams being mentioned. I went to Buckeye and New Jersey, and its between 103 and 48 for me. 103 is definetly the most organized team i've ever seen, and their pit is a reflection of the system they got in place over there, that Plasma really helps the cause. 48 has a great one because of their shelving system that looks pretty cool.

[Bill_Hancoc]

I'd like to add another dimension to this post what is it that makes their pits so nice other than TV's and organized. Speaking as the person who most often organizes the pit for 573 how do they go about keeping it clean and organized. From what Ive found it is hard to keep the pit clean and organized with what little space we have had so far, how do other teams do it with more than just a table and small toolbox?

[jessjank.]

I'd like to add another dimension to this post what is it that makes their pits so nice other than TV's and organized. Speaking as the person who most often organizes the pit for 573 how do they go about keeping it clean and organized. From what Ive found it is hard to keep the pit clean and organized with what little space we have had so far, how do other teams do it with more than just a table and small toolbox?

For those of you who haven't seen 103's pit before and have been hearing about how clean and organized it is, I'll provide some explanation. We have a booth set-up on which we have our plasma screen TV. The plasma screen TV actually rests on a compartment with a door in which we typically store more personal items such as bags and coats. At each of the two outer corners of our pit are towers that offer plenty of storage space with shelves and such. In one we house various tools, parts, and other such things concerned with the robot and in the other all of our pr/marketing binders, brochures, documents, and so forth. The rest of our tools and parts are actually stored in our robot's cart that's used to transport it to and from matches. On two sides of the cart have tool chest drawers. The cart also serves as a work space for working on and repairing the robot, which luckily doesn't occur too often, so we have no need for a table. Any other things we may ever need are kept in storage bins on our charter bus, since we always take busses to events, but we also rarely have to actually get something from them - we have it there just in case. Because of this, we actually have quite a bit of room and actually have some pretty nice chairs in our pit as well. So that basically explains why it's so organized.

And the fact of why it's so clean... well I guess I'm the one to blame for that. :D I'm quite a neat freak and despite the fact that many people would like to drop trash and whatnot about in the pit, I'm typically right there grabbing it and throwing it away. Since I'm always in the pits I try to make sure that things get put away or thrown away as soon as they're done being used, so no accumulation of junk takes place.

If you're coming to the Championships, make sure you stop by our pit and say hi! I'd be glad to give you a first hand view of how we maintain our clean and overly organized look, plus I've sort of noticed that people enjoy watching the plasma screen and lounging in our chairs, though I must say that they slightly "over do" it.

Here's a picture of our pit:Cybersonics Technology Team 103 Pit (http://www.cybersonics.org/cybersonics/team103/photos/images/other/103pit.jpg)

[Jverdon]

So, Nationals are over with, who had the best pit that you sall. I liked Area 53 and there UFO.

[Meyerman]

team 45,103,111,173,254,and 365 all had great pits i didnt see many other that could compete with them this year but id hafta go with 365 for the best the tower, the work station, and storage makes it an all round great set up.

[pyroslev]

I agree with the setup. If I recall, though, some of the pits with nice setups were in bad spots.

We had a basic pit, but location. We were right next to the Newton Screen. We pulled chairs around to a spot and watched matches without having to leave the pits. We were also right next to the inspection station.

[Justin1636]

I would definitely have to say team 63 Gila Monsters. they have all their parts and tools in pull out trays and drawers and it is all nice and organized. Also the have the big stuffed Gila monster hanging over their pit gotta love that

[Lil' Lavery]

I would definitely have to say team 63 Gila Monsters. they have all their parts and tools in pull out trays and drawers and it is all nice and organized. Also the have the big stuffed Gila monster hanging over their pit gotta love that
Gila Monsters are 64.
Anyway, I dont remember the number of my favorite, but it was sweet. It was pretty plain in terms of color, mainly gray, but it had a white tent roof. The best parts where the flatscreen TV (which they hung to the ceiling with wire ties), and the amazing level of organization. It even won Team 233's coolest pit award in Denver.

[IronVulture]

M'aiken Magic 1104, Gila Monsters 64, and Kil-a-bytes 1024, M'aiken Magic manages to create a roomy pit even though it has tons of stuff in it (as opposed to ours, which was really cramped at nats most of the time, but that might just have been location), Gila Monsters for all the previously said reasons (easy access, giant stuffed gila monster) and Kil-a-bytes pit just has it all, it's very open, but has all the stuff they need, and of course, come on, how can you resist a flat-screen TV?

[Justin1636]

Gila Monsters are 64.
Anyway, I dont remember the number of my favorite, but it was sweet. It was pretty plain in terms of color, mainly gray, but it had a white tent roof. The best parts where the flatscreen TV (which they hung to the ceiling with wire ties), and the amazing level of organization. It even won Team 233's coolest pit award in Denver.

I believe that was a Kansas teams pit.

[Meyerman]

i forgot about 233's they did have a pretty awsome set up with their huge hut and their massive banner towers, but their wasnt much more to it if i remember correctly. 64 had a nice cage with lighting and a huge stuffed lizzard that they brought down to the feild during elimination rounds.

[the_short1]

kukes was awsome! they had a maskot in a kuke costume.. adn they handed out REAL kukes.. adn the rotating thing otua metal was cool.. it reminded me of our medalions we handed out .. .

also..... 1006 ? .. fast eddie.. their pit had a nice shelvind deal and they had nice stools..


missdaisy and frog force are the best from a distance.. i loved the waving frog :d

[Conor Ryan]

For second year teams, 1305 had a great pit. 64 too had a great one. One thing i notices, some of the more complete look pits had a tendencey to be more disorganized at times. 103 is still one of my favorites, 229 had a great one too. Simplicity works best in pits.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

Here are my nominations.

45 - Amazing as always. The level of functionality in that pit is spectacular. They really use up the little space they have to their advantage and put in organized storage space, among other things.
234 - Has anybody here mentioned 234? Did you forget the nice big BLUE tent? I scouted them at every competition we were with with them, and somehow that tent just made happy.
103 - See explanation above
64 - I love the stuffed Gila Monster.

[AndyB]

I liked 1024's pit last year. very cool feel to it. i love the flatpanel tv as well.

:yikes:

[Bongle]

The best pit is the pit that doesn't intrude on adjacent pit space. It seems every year our pit space slowly shrinks as the teams around us put up more and more extravagant displays. All you need is a box for your robot to sit on (we used our crate), the KOP bins full of tools and parts, and a table to charge your batteries on.

That said, if you can make an enormous extravagant pit area that doesn't bug your neighbours, great!

[Bemis]

it was said 50 million times already, but I agree that MOE's is pretty nice. Well organized, and noticable. My team was right across the aisle/space/path/whatever from them. Also, thanks for loning us that net at Pittsburgh back when we were tweaking our shooter, before removing it. My only problem is that the music playing with the video you guys showed this year got really repetetive, but thats not much.

[musicgal]

Does anyone else have pictures of their pits? We're a rookie team competiting pretty soon in Denver, and we have no idea how to use our space!!

[hayakuneko]

at arizona... i'd say team 842...

they had this whole shelved off pit area. it was basically a bunch of shelves creating a wall surrounding their pit area, it was really nice and looked really professional...

... i think thats why we bought shelves yesterday...? :confused:

woo hoo... 6 days till LA regional...

[The Lucas]

Does anyone else have pictures of their pits? We're a rookie team competiting pretty soon in Denver, and we have no idea how to use our space!!
Here is our pit in Pittsburgh. (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/552/552cdae83e8111be005cc89c8da25f9a_l.jpg) Thanks for the picture Bill Bennet. You can see Lou our resident Pit Lord putting away some metal. Strangely, he is the only one in the pit so this is a rare photo op. He is standing in front of our second work bench so you can't see it well. You can see our 2 mini towers (made from spare fabric stretchers), complying with the new FIRST height restrictions.

Specs:

2 Work Benches
Primarily built with Bosch Tubing
Drill press
2 Vices
Locking shelves for clear plastic organizer cases
Battery charging shelf (2nd bench)
Large storage cabinet (2nd bench)
Collapsible upper shelf for portability
Locking Casters for portability
2 mini towers (used to be one taller tower)
2001 rotating green light on 1 tower
LED boards on the other tower
MOE Logo Banners for every year (notice 1 more gear for every year)
DVD player


The pit was built during winter break in 2001. The names of the students who built it are engraved on a plaque. The whole pit (workbenches and towers) fits in the back of Lou's pickup and he transports it to all our competitions. The pit was designed solely for functionality, but aesthetics seem to get into everything we do. :D

Whatever you use for your pit, make sure it is very portable and very sturdy. Some teams even use their crate as a tool shelf (like 808 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/765/765e2fdc472cdec6e4e2ce517adae610_l.jpg) ).

[jwallace15]

I decided to revive this old thread! I see so many threads about robot carts, I think it's time pit setups get some attention!

Team 68's pit setup consists of our "Boom Box", which has space for 4 of our big totes, Slots for a ton of containers with fasteners, a countertop with (if my memory serves me) 10 outlets, and our boom: A big boom made out of pipe that contains an ethernet cable for safe tethering in the pits. It reaches high above the robot out of everyone's way (so that head injuries are avoided). No more ethernet cords laying askew on the pit floor!

We also have our biggest (portable) tool box (nicknamed "Little Red". There is a big red, but it is too big to transport anymore). We also have a wall with pegs for hanging up important tools on. It also features an LED marquee.

We also had a board for pinning up buttons on, holding electronic picture frames with slideshows featuring our team, as well as motivational posters and other things.

Some cool things I've seen:

280 (TnT): Installed Mini-Fridge. Also has a fan that consists of the big fans included in the KOP.

Many teams have tents.

And of course, buttons.

What about your team?

[AllenGregoryIV]

We made a whole guide about our Pit Setup. We're very big fans of it. It's pretty simple and lightweight. It also didn't cost that much but provides a lot of functionality.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2706

Number one thing to have in a printer: All-in-one printer, it has saved the day for teams many times.

[DELurker]

I decided to revive this old thread! I see so many threads about robot carts, I think it's time pit setups get some attention!

As a suggestion, starting a new thread with a link in the first post to the old thread would probably be a better option than necro-ing a thread that is more than 6 years out of date.

With that said, iirc 2016 has a really neat, clean, and well-organized pit. Everything had a place and there was a place for everything. For the rest, I was too busy running between the stands and the pit at each of our competitions to pay much attention :(

[Jay O'Donnell]

I have to give a shout out to 3467 for their pit. Extremely organized, great usage of space and a nice feel to it.

[JohnFogarty]

If only there wasn't a height restriction on pits then we could bring back the monstrous wizard hat that goes on top of the castle.

Our pit is unbelievably simple. We designed it so that we use the space we have as efficiently as possible. We have collapsable shelves for not only storage but also to hold the castle walls up. The chairman's banner and signature banner doors are more of a safety feature than anything.
We built a wool plank to sit on top of our tool chests so that the power tools would have something to sit on along with keeping our carts stable in the trailer while in transit. Last year we decided...we need chairs.

[Boe]

If only there wasn't a height restriction on pits...

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/24597

[Peyton Yeung]

254's was beautiful with the accent lighting and aluminum tubing but 686 had one of the best pits I've seen. Almost all they brought in at Chesapeake fit in 2 carts. 1 cart split in half and had storage on the insides and the 2nd unfolded for hanging tools. So much open space.

[safiq10]

I've got to admit I really like the Gatorzillas booth. BTW what are the spefication on booths

[Ernst]

I've got to admit I really like the Gatorzillas booth. BTW what are the spefication on booths

Pits are usually 10' x 10' but can be smaller.

Per the 2013 FRC Administrative Manual (http://frc-manual.usfirst.org/viewItem/2):
Each team is allotted approximately the same amount of workspace at an event, usually about 10’x10’x10’; however, the size will vary from event to event, and in many cases the space is smaller. Be sure your equipment will fit in a space smaller than those dimensions. In all cases, the height cannot exceed 10’. This includes the height of signs, flags, banners, etc…

[Billfred]

Going to be a while before someone tops 4451, ROBOTZ Garage (https://twitter.com/WmLeverette/status/307216307672195073/photo/1) for me.

(Also, I remember that two-story pit all those years ago. At least they had harnesses up top!)