Re: Competition jobs
 

They would make sure the robot has a fresh battery, and record (assuming you label your batteries) which battery was used when. They also make sure the batteries make it back to the charger after being pulled from the robot.

Re: Competition jobs
 

You also should always have someone in the pit who knows the code and the control system very well.

Most other "jobs" depend on your team - do you have a mascot costume that needs to be worn? We have people whose job it is to go around and pass out buttons, as well. Another useful thing would be to assign one person (probably a parent or mentor) who makes sure that everyone is staying healthy by drinking enough water and eating meals. Speaking of meals, there needs to be someone to coordinate them (taking orders and money, placing the order, etc - figure out if your venue offers pre-ordered lunches and when the deadline is for them).

Re: Competition jobs
 

Press pass! I'm usually used by my team as a runner if we're in queue. As well, I know electronics so during Elims I'm like a free pass in :)

Re: Competition jobs
 

NEMO (non-engineering mentor organization) has a paper in the resource section "Jobs at the Competitions."

http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm

It is an older paper, and we would welcome any suggestions for updating!

Re: Competition jobs
 

If you don't have a toolbox on your cart, have a runner. You'll probably regret it at least once this season if you don't. Do not make this person part of your drive team (because they run away). They can wait with your team in most cases, they just can't do it inside the arena. Most queue setups are at least relatively convenient about this, and the driver can always come over to grab something. This applies right up through quarterfinals.

In semifinals, you'll still have some wait time between matches without timeouts--even in finals it's around 2min. You can bring your pit in, however, so you don't need a runner. Most venues allow 2-4 extra people in to help.

You can also have a media person. Most venues nowadays allow 1 person from each team in the current match to come in and take photos/video.

Re: Competition jobs
 

Our pit team had a checklist of items to deal with before/after each match. The list was subdivided among the pit kids so each time, they did the exact same thing. Things like replace battery, reset minibot deployment, tighten troublesome set screws, check tension on guy wires, change bumpers, etc. One time someone reset the deployment minibot 'on' switch pull string differently than the working mode, and it failed on the field. Consistency and repeatability is very important. And whenever we found an oversight, it was added to the checklist.

Some of us even wanted to post the checklist on the robot itself, so it could be rechecked in the queue.

This is the first year we had this, and this was our breakout year, being picked by alliance #2 and coming in second.

Re: Competition jobs
 

The only people that should be in the pit are, your drive team,scouts(sometimes if they need to talk to the drive team) your pit crew(the people who know the robot inside and out), and any one needed to talk to judges. Most of the time your scouts will just be walking around looking at other robots.

Re: Competition jobs
 

We have 2 pit scouts and the rest of the scouts are scouting the matches. It gets annoying when there are 20 people trying to pack into a 10' square area and you can't get any work done on the robot. We have one memebr assigned as pit boss. His job is to run the pit and make sure it keeps clear. If scouts need a break, they can WALK around the pits but not hang around doing nothing.