Re: your pit area
 

I'm bringing that up in our next meeting. I felt there were too many people just hanging around, which is fine if they're in the stands and got their work done. But it's a pain to move around someone if it's not neccesary. It's only 10x10, so choose wisely and make the most of your space!

Re: your pit area
 

We decided to make our crate this year into a workstation for the pit. We worked on it all during winter break and just barely got it done in time for build season. While i don't have any pictures of it (yet) i should be able to describe it pretty well.

The front half of the top of the crate folds back 180 onto the back half of the top. this lets the two clamshell doors in the front swing open either 90 or 180 degrees, depending on what we decide is best at the competition. Because the doors form a nice L shape, we have a system to put 4 shelves on the inside of the left door once open and lock them in place, while the right door has battery charging pockets. The entire crate is prewired and just needs to be plugged in. A thick table bifolds from the back all the way to the front and onto supports for a very steady and deep work space. Stop by the team 422 pit at VCU or nats to check it out! We're all really excited about it this year. It did end up being kind of heavy, but it should be worth the extra shipping costs.

Re: your pit area
 

Actually, 648 has been doing this for quite a few years. The sides fold out and then the top and bottom come up and serve as a countertop to work off of and put computers printers etc. We have a couple of flag holders on it also which hold a banner, John Deere flag (sponsor) and the American Flag. Works pretty neat!

Re: your pit area
 

Our pit this year still needs a lot of work. But we do have lights, speakers, and an amp, and we are getting a disco ball. (Don't ask me why we NEED this, it was the others' idea, not mine.) So come over to 1652's pit for some lively music and nothing getting done whatsoever! :]

Re: your pit area
 

Have them keep the music down. Loud music is banned in the pits (I forget which rule, but I' pretty sure it's in Section 4: At the Event.)

Re: your pit area
 

Team 27 takes shelves and has our own little set up for all of our boxes, parts, tools, and we also bring a vice and means of securing it which has proved to be quite useful. We included lights because many times arena/gymnasium lights are not enough, and we like to be able to see.

You're pit is a way for everyone to see your team, so if you want to impress the judges or other teams, come up with some display boards to first of all, credit/thank your sponsors for all their support and also to show off how amazing your team is and all of your hard work. In the past we took foam boards and covered them in fabric, then lined them with painted pvc, and mounted them to our shelves with tie straps. We used Velcro to attached any pictures we wanted and used them to tell our story.

One thing no one has mentioned is the robot cart, it has to fit inside your pit too, unless you can find somewhere out of the way for it (or leave it outside until you need it) I've seen teams make the crate into the robot cart before, where they just take off the top half and add wheels or something of that sort, which always helps on transportation costs.

Re: your pit area
 

I'll be sure to let 'em know. Thanks.

Oh, and another thing I thought up: Chain-link fence around the walls of the pit. It's practical, it protects the pit from others around it, it looks good, and you can easily make hooks and hang stuff on it. (I remember a team last year that had that... Don't remember which team, though...)

Re: your pit area
 

At Buckeye if you get an the outside rows, there's extra space on the opposite side of the walkway which is unofficially an extended area. We used that space last year.

I'm still planning our area, but I have a question. For teams who used canopies in the past, how much did they cost? Or, did you custom make it out of PVC piping and fabric? If the latter, how did you do it?

Re: your pit area
 

this has nothing to do with the pit area but dont forget to have speakers on your robot blaring metalica for dave;)

Re: your pit area
 

What we do is we go out into our schools main hallway, and we lay down the pit area using duct tape, and then physically fill it with stuff

Re: your pit area
 

we generally set up our pit in our shop, take pictures of everything, and draw out a rough diagram to help add to the pictures.

Re: your pit area
 

We've never drawn out our pit design; that's a good idea.

766's pit has a table in the back with the battery chargers under it along with a bin for personal articles (coats, backpacks, purses, etc.). Commonly used tools are on the table next to the programming laptop and there is a chair for the programmer/s. The sides of the pit are lined with bins of materials/marketing give-aways/posters/banners and of course, our beloved red toolbox, which is a chest of drawers and actually accurately labeled this year. Robot goes in the middle of the pit on a cart. Make sure cart fits in pit with room for people!

An idea for battery chargers: We labeled each of our battery chargers and the ends of their wires with either Fire, Water, or Wind (chosen arbitrarily) so we wouldn't mix up which charger light went to which battery. And we always have a strip of masking tape on the floor labeled Charging...Charging...Charged! We just move the charging batteries along the line to wait for their next 30-second battery change.

And send people out to scout whenever the pit fills up or you're testing. :) We have a small team, so the problem is more that 766 doesn't have much of a spectator presence in the bleachers.

Re: your pit area
 

One mantra of my former mentor that I have come to respect is "No coats! Leave them with the scouting team!"

Coats, backpacks, purses, camera bags, laptop cases, umbrellas, and other personal affects of students on a 20+ person team take up a significant amount of pit space. They also constitute a hassle as team members come into the pit to retrieve various objects and get underfoot. Leave them with your scouting team. Your scouting team should be working in shifts and never leaving the stands anyway so there will always be somebody there to watch the belongings. Be sure to inform your scouting team of their new responsibilities.

Re: your pit area
 

I'm not sure if they have a good pic of it, but I LOVED the charger made by Team 1001, saw it at Buckeye. Pretty sweet, designed with engineers at Rockwell Automation.

Re: your pit area
 

The rules may say 10x10, but at venues that have limited space, such as Pittsburgh, Purdue, the pit size can be 8x8.

I designed a nice extruded pit display for our team, unfortunately we haven't been able to use it yet. It has 2 2x2x4 rolling carts, one as a media module, the other a safety module and 2 3x4x3.5 carts for tool and material storage.