Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed
To be honest if you want to make a petition how about one to have people stop clogging up the pits using it as a social club and stop blocking the entrances and exits which is equally rude and obnoxious and a fire hazard?
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Here in lies the problem I feel. My team wouldn't have to yell robot (or say "excuse me" if that's what you really prefer) if their team wasn't standing where it shouldn't be, in the pit road.
Honestly I see no difference between "Robot" and "Excuse me my robot is coming through" except for the unnecessary length of the second one. "Robot" is crisp, concise, and gets your point across quickly that there is a potentially dangerous and heavy mobile object moving in your direction and to be alert (the world needs more lerts).
As to the practice of announcing you robot in less filled areas: there are a number of teams in my area that are in the practice of walling off their pit (with shelves or totes or use a tent), so that unless you are directly in front, you can't see in or out of it. There's no telling is someone is going to come barreling out at any moment into your robot transit team (which I HAVE seen on occasion when "robot" was not announced). Same goes for adjacent hallways and rooms. Preemptive announcement is much better and safer than running the risk of collision. I have no control over what other team's members do, but I do control what my team does. If you find it annoying that I let you know every time when my robot is passing your pit, you'll just have to take one for the team, so to say.
As to the use of robot declaration, it should ALWAYS be the person leading the robot train (who is at LEAST a handful of feet in front of the robot cart) and NEVER the person pushing the robot cart. That gives people more time to react.
I find it actually kind of funny the disparity I see in the pits; of the 4 competitions I've been to the past 2 years, the overwhelming majority of pits (75%+) have either more people in them than they should, or the pit is completely empty (everyone is at/to/from the field). Not sure which one is worse.