Re: What makes a good pit?
 

It goes a lot nicer when we don't have to perform shooter surgery. I'd like to think it was mostly worth it :rolleyes: . Most of the "set up" time was waiting for the robot to get out of the pit (preferably in one piece). Once it got out, we had the structure assembled in less than an hour.

Needless to say, we may need a bit of practice before St. Louis, especially since we'll be doing Thursday surgery again...

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

Thats what i figured made it take so long. One of our goals with our new pit is for it to go up in <15 minutes by 5 people

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

One important thing that I think more people should think about is population control. You should only be in the pit if you're working on something, or will be in the near future. If you're just standing around talking about non-robotics stuff, get out and go watch some matches or go collect buttons or something. A crowded pit is a dangerous one.

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

Here is a presentation I've put together on this very topic.

Our pit this year at the VA regional.

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

We like spacious, easy to locate pits. We work with a great company who rents out lights and truss for stage shows and they let us borrow the trusses in the corners. They are sometimes a pain to travel with but we usually find ways to make it happen.
The orange box on the right is our mill cart during the build season but during competition it turns into an everything cart, with space for all of our totes and spare parts. We use the table that the regional provides for all of our handouts and promotional materials as well as a place to charge our batteries, and we keep the robot on our cart during maintenance. We also have our toolbox on the cart to save space.

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

A pit must be, above all, safe. Second, it must be organized. I think our pit does this pretty well. These are actually pits from last year. We made some minor changes (more lighting, different configuration), but it's similar enough to post here. Once I get the new pit pictures I'll post them here.

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

Do you have any pictures of your pit? Or any additional recommendations for winning the UL Safety Award?

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

Our biggest rule is never to allow more than a few people inside the pit at a time, but, more importantly, not to let anyone from our own team stand by the pit unless they have a specific reason to be there, and even then, only briefly. We have a table with our awards, scrapbook, buttons, and decorations at the front, which creates a barrier that is clear enough for people to follow; nobody stands in front of the table.

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

Looking in a broad perspective, pits that are organized and handsome usually adhere to these:

1. The front has a footprint. The face of their pit has some area, it makes them identifiable from down the aisle and separates inside from out. This can be a banner, a TV, a poster, something to interact with people at a glance.

2. That footprint is relatively small. I see all the time pits with banners you have to duck under or openings that seem only as big as a doorway. The face of your pit should allow people to see into and (as needed: judges, public figures, etc) enter your pit easily. It also allows people (and robots) to leave easily if it ever becomes crowded (As people above have emphasized, and I second),

If you meet these criteria, I would think that the insides would also follow suit. Something useful can make up the face of your pit (shelves are great). Toolboxes and other varieties of boxes are also great at containing the inevitable stuff you take to the regional and accumulate while you're there. Regardless of how you design your pit and what you bring, just be sure everything has a place (other than with the jackets under the table). Good luck in competition!

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

I might not be who you're talking to, but I can speak slightly to the UL Safety Award (2220 were finalists at both regionals we attended last year, and one of our mentors is a Safety Advisor).

#1 is actually acting safely. Posters and flyers won't help you if the SA sees people who are a part of your team doing visibly unsafe things. This should go without saying, but with how much "safety theatre" some teams do it needs to be said.

#2 is being able to answer the SA's questions when/if they come to your pit. They may come by when your Safety Captain is in the pit, which means ANYBODY in your pit should be able to answer their questions. Most of it is pretty easy stuff-- I'll email our mentor and get some sample questions they might ask. Note that some regionals may not have Safety Advisors asking questions in the pits, and an interview is not guaranteed (last year our safety captain got confused about this even though we have a mentor who volunteers in this capacity...). It reflects very well if a member who isn't affiliated with your team's safety efforts is able to talk effectively about safety and safe practices on your team (the contrapositive is true as well*: a safety captain who can't answer questions will reflect very poorly).

#3 is, as mentioned, keeping your pit space organized and clean. Also a subset of this is having things on hand to deal with various possible emergencies in your pit-- first aid kits, baking soda, etc. It also includes keeping excess personnel out (which can be difficult no matter what size the team). To this end, keeping your drawers and tools organized and clean, vacuuming (if you have carpet in your pit or if you're on the floor), and making sure nuts and bolts aren't just lying around are a good start. If you're getting smiley faces on your nightly check slips, you're good on cleanliness.

Last is the posters, the awareness stuff (at least where I'm from...). It's a lot of fun to do, but safety is all about the fundamentals. If your team has a good grasp on the concepts and practice of safety, it will show (because many teams, sadly, do not have those habits).

If you're really serious about going for a safety award (or even if you aren't), I'd definitely recommend reaching out both to the safety advisors at your event and any large businesses in your area to learn about what they consider to be safe practices. Last year 2220 talked a good deal with 3M about their safety procedures to learn how to better our practices, which was a great experience.

Good luck!

*Yes I know that if a statement is true the contrapositive must be true as well!

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

Keep it simple. When we were a less experienced team we had a large pit structure made from PVC with black and blue sheets draped from the sides. While it did make us more visible most of the time it was just a nuisance making things dark and cramped. We also used a large led lit cart for transporting our robot to the field and while it was nice looking it took up more space than necessary.

For champs this year we started from scratch and purchased a tool chest that could securely hold all our gear for transportation and includes a power strip on the side to save some precious table space. Instead of a bulky robot cart we bought a 17$ movers dolly and a handle which could be easily folded and put away when not needed. The dolly also helped a ton when we had to move the pit closer to the field during elims. To raise the robot form the floor we just used a clam shell container which could double as storage. It may not of been "cool" but it was easily the most effective pit I've ever been part of.

A great example of a simple and effective pit is 1114's.

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

I'm going to sound like I'm bragging, but the pit 3138 has now is easily the best I've ever worked in. Everything is wheeled in. We have two large rolling toolbox/workbenches and our robot cart. Everything we need comes packaged and stacked in kickoff totes and stacked on the toolboxes and seran wrapped. We're generally all unpacked and ready to go in very short order. We only have a simple sponsor sign made out of PVC pipe that goes into some holders mounted on one of the toolboxes, and that is probably the longest part of our pit setup.

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

Here's a couple more specific recommendations that the volunteer I mentioned earlier gave me, and the specific questions I asked:

The first thing was, read the manual!

As for interview questions:

And for things to avoid:

Not a ton of new information, but I hope you find it helpful!

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

For our team, the portability and fast setup of our current pit:



...has been a dream. One person can carry the structure in, it sets up in less than 10 minutes, and with the rolling toolbox (you see me sitting on), and the robot on it's cart... we can roll in and be working within 25 minutes of arriving at the venue.

Re: What makes a good pit?
 

Our team takes the minimalist approach for our pit. We fly to one or more regionals a year and have to carry our pit on the airplane. We also put one small set of shelves and chargers in the small crate with the robot. We have won the safety award with this simple pit a couple of times. They only win at events that I am not a Safety Advisor. This type of pit can be put together in minutes and has lots of space since we bring very little to fill it with.