PR Question
 

Hey Hi!
I'm the PR of team 5665 and this year is our first year. We are rookies and we had never been to the competition.
I want to ask you about Pit areas. I really don't know how to design our Pit area. I still don't know what a Pit area looks like, I saw pictures but I didn't get it. Can you help me please?
What will FRC give us? Like a table and ...

Thanks a lot!! :) :] :)

Re: PR Question
 

Expect a 10'x10' square and a table in the back (usually 8' long).

Also don't expect to have an abundance of outlets, I'd prepare to run off of 1 or 2.

I'm sure you could send an email to the organizers of your event to be sure, but the 10x10 and a table is the typical arrangement.

Good Luck at competitions! (Oh! we're both going to be at CIR, so we'll see you there. Don't be afraid to come by our pit if you need something, we'd be glad to help.)

Re: PR Question
 

As someone who has now been to the Montreal Regional for the last two years, halfway across the world from where you are (nonetheless, I believe FRC to be consistent all over the globe), I can say that FRC usually supplies us with a table or two and a chair. The rest is up to the team. Team Spectrum (#3847) released a pit design guide back in 2012. I am not exactly sure if they have a more recent version or not, but the information is very complete.

I just noticed that you guys will be participating in the Central Illinois Regional, so I guess Captain_Kirch (from team 2039, also participating in that regional) has the more accurate information. So, yeah, what he said ...

(I guess FRC does vary a bit from regional to regional.)

Re: PR Question
 

Thanks a lot! See you in the Regional! I wrote in my notes that I will come to you and meet ;)

Re: PR Question
 

Thanks a lot for the guide! I'm sure that it will help me :)

Re: PR Question
 

I really liked the foam floor idea. I might convince our team to steal it.

Re: PR Question
 

Check out some of our pics http://clbregulators.weebly.com/ . Lots of teams have there own style. On thing we did is have a big blank white board for teams to sign. ( big hit) . have fun with it be different, have photo album and team information on display for fans and judges. Have something small to give away. Make awards to give to other teams Especially for those that help you

Re: PR Question
 

Several people have mentioned a 10'x10' area.

This isn't always the case! Sometimes you might only get 8'x8', or 10'x10' (or even more if you are super lucky).

Please design your pit layout with this minimal size restriction. Encroaching into the alley or neighbor's pits is not a good way to make friends. :p

Re: PR Question
 

Stepping back a bit, the most important things to include in your pit are:

• Your Sponsors' Logos - they made it possible!
• Battery Charging Station
• Your tool chest, including wrenches, screwdrivers, hacksaws, crimps, and a soldering iron.
• Your "Fabricated Parts Withholding Allowance" allowed under R17 (choose wisely!)
• Robot and Driver Station (ok, duh)

The next round of things are:

• A work bench more sturdy than a convention table
• Power strips (to run drill press, soldering iron, and other allowed power tools)
• Programmer Station (this may be as simple as power strips, a table, and a long ethernet cable if your programmers bring laptops or program with the clamshell, or may include a PC and a printer)
• Drill Press
• COTS spares, including stock and miscellaneous hardware
• Broom, dust pan, and trash can
• A sign or banner for your team
• Give-aways and other PR stuff
• Place to post your competition schedule (could be a small bulletin board, or a dry-erase board).
• Dry-erase boards or paper/pen or CAD station for on-the-spot design and upgrades.

When laying out your pit, remember that you need to leave enough room to be able to work on your robot. This has been an issue in recent years, but with this year's rules allowing a very large robot, it could be crucial.

Don't forget that you cannot use wireless in the pits or on the practice fields - you have to have a network tether cable. Bring a spare or two in case it gets run over or otherwise broken.

Re: PR Question
 

We were warned not to daisy chain power strips last year at regionals, so I recommend buying a huge power strip to run everything off of. Like we're talking 8+ outlets depending on what you want on it.

Re: PR Question
 

We build our pit frame out of pvc, not only because it fits the theme of how our chassis and other parts are built out of pvc, but because it's easy for transport. Here's a link to a really good picture of our pit from the Arkansas Regional last year: [x] It also has some good shots of the two neighboring pits as well. I would definitely invest in the foam tile flooring, it comes in really well. GeeTwo mentioned a list of plenty of really good suggestions to keep in mind.

Another set of things that you should keep in mind is safety for sure. There will be safety judges, inspectors, and many other people waking by on monitor for good safety, as well as getting a review slip both Thursday and Friday night. Keep things like a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, battery spill kit (baking soda, acid resistant gloves, a disposal container, etc.). It would also be good to have extra safety glasses around in case someone forgets their pair, but the event will provide pairs even though they're mostly for non-team visitors. Things like extra hair ties and stuff like that. The biggest safety thing would be an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) of all of the chemicals you use and even the main breaker switch sticker for the robot.

There are resources like the 2015 Safety Manual that can help you out with all of that!

Good luck at competition!

Re: PR Question
 

Oh, right! ABSOLUTELY!! However, don't bother keeping spare safety glasses in the pit - people won't be able to get to the pit without safety glasses. Until this year, we've always made a point of keeping safety glasses in our "outside the pits" station somewhere in the stands or the outer lobby of our venue. This year, we're going to buy an individual pair of safety glasses for everyone on the team who does not need vision correction, with a team logo. (My pic is about 8 years old; I do wear glasses now.)

Re: PR Question
 

power strips are very important, as you do only get a couple (or just one) outlet, make sure not to connect a whole bunch of strips onto one though...

Re: PR Question
 

We are looking forward to welcoming Team 5665 from Istanbul, Turkey to the Central Illinois Regional.

Lots of good input on pits, but most of the suggestion for pit accessories won't fit in their luggage. :)

Power here in the USA is 120v and 60 Hz, so some of your powered items may not work here. Bradley University has two full machine shops close to the pit area, so power tools will be available to all teams attending the Central Illinois Regional.

I suggest that you bring your team banner and sponsor information, so you can display it in your 10' x 10' pit. If you have a team flag, bring that as well. Bring safety glasses for every team member in your luggage, not your shipping crate.

You probably will want to bring the hand tools that you used frequently on your robot build. If you need anything (a tool, a part, something machined, etc.) just ask another team or ask pit administration to make an announcement. This a small regional with a lot of experienced teams, so just ask and you will get plenty of assistance.

My team, Team 2481, the Roboteers, can provide you with a power strip and assist with battery charging.

We will make sure your team is fully supported at the Central Illinois Regional. If you have specific questions about the Central Illinois Regional, the email address for the event is frccir2014@gmail.com

Tim Koch
Central Illinois Regional Planning Committee Chairman

Re: PR Question
 

Last year we got to ship our robot in a crate. We designed the crate so that it would double as a pit. The front of the crate came off and split in half making two small book cases that we put at the front of our pit. The back of the crate had a table that folded out of it.

All in all it didn't look great, but it worked out really well for our team. It also gave mentors a place to go to stay out of the team's way. :-p

Re: PR Question
 

This is what our pit looked like up in Duluth. It's a pretty average pit. We had shelves with our display out front, generally you want enough workspace for your people to work on the robot, a banner so that teams know who you are, some storage space and a display of some sort for buttons and judges.

Re: PR Question
 

We just bring a few of our extra pairs to keep in the pit so if someone does forget them, they can start out with grabbing some from the stations with pairs sitting out to grab so they can come to the pits, grab a pair of ours, and return the ones they just borrowed so that allows one more guest to be able to enter the pits since our regionals usually run low and always need to make sure people are wearing some if they have them.

Re: PR Question
 

Don't forget that is 10x10x10 HIGH. There is a height restriction of 10', although it may or may not be strictly enforced.

The district format that we have here in New England there is no set pit size from event to event. One last year was 9'x9' and one was 10'x8'

Re: PR Question
 

Apologies for kinda necro-ing this thread, but GeeToo brought up a bunch of great points. Also important to have in the pit is space for everyone to move around. Our team has come up with a system of wristbands of some sort to be allowed into our pit area to limit the number of people inside at once. In a perfect world, only the people who need access to the pit will visit but alas, it's not really the case.

In terms of safety equipment, think about displaying a safety board with incident reporting forms and other safety procedures where judges can easily see it. Along with this, have a comprehensive first aid kit (think Boy Scout comprehensive. go above and beyond!) and a spill kit on hand.

Another important thing- be creative! Your pit should be both functional but also have your own flair on it. Include decorations and unique elements in your pit. Our team is planning on bringing a repurposed C&C mill computer to use with our 3D printers. We're allowing any teams that need a custom part to be made quickly to design and print them in our pit!

And always remember to have fun with it. Competitions are some of the most amazing experiences in FIRST after all the bonding you do for the 6 weeks of build. You made it this far- now you get to enjoy it!