Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneYoung
One thing that I love about BEST is their approach to the Pits. They are not open to everyone. They are only available to those who have pit passes and to BEST folks which include Judges and invited VIPs. I like that and think FRC could benefit from something similar with designated times for the Pits to be open to the everyone.
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I think one of the most inspiring things about FRC competitions is seeing teams working on their robots. Removing that from the public's view would be detrimental to the program. Some outside observers don't always believe that the students are building these robots. FIRST does a very good job of keeping spectators safe and just the safety glasses requirement alone keeps some people out of the pit.
Teams are able to take their own view on how welcoming they want their pit. For example at Alamo team 4000 (a rookie team) had a pit that included cut outs for people to take photos with, they obviously didn't mind having people come by their pit. On the other hand (this is just my take) team 245's pit was less welcoming which is not a bad thing. Their students were diligently working most of the time and I don't think many spectators would have interrupted them. How you construct your pit and how you interact with it and manage it determines a lot.