Thread: Pit design
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Unread 17-09-2006, 21:45
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FourPenguins FourPenguins is offline
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AKA: Ed Venator
FRC #2399
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Rookie Year: 2005
Location: Mount Olive, NJ
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Re: Pit design

This year's MORT cart had two (IMO) important upgrades over the previous version.
1) Magnetic tool/hardware trays. Cheap and incredibly useful, putting a couple of these on a cart/table give you a secure and easy to find place to store hardware and tools so that they can't roll away or fall. (Like This or this .
2) Slotted cart-top to hold the robot. Our robot frame fitted securely into two channels on our extruded aluminum cart. No risk of rolling and also about a foot above the work surface of the cart allowing more space for tools, etc. underneath.

Our pit isn't all that sophisticated. Keep extras of everything and don't forget the zipties. (both learned the hard way) We keep our spare hardware, serial cables, electrical parts, and other small parts in plastic organizer boxes. (A bit like fishing tackle boxes.)
It's good to have some form of tool organization, but ours is just a husky tool chest with drawers. It works, but I've seen other teams with entire walls set up with hooks for tools and countless other organization systems, many of which are probably more effective than our toolchest.
Our batteries and chargers are kept in a wheeled cabinet filled with power strips that is plugged into the pit power supply and with a shutoff switch. All chargers (robot, drill, backup, laptop on occasion) are kept out of the way in this manner. It also gives us a lot of free outlets for tools.
Don't forget to tape down extension cords. Loose cords are a major hazard with so many people moving so fast.

Overall, I think that your pit crews direction and training is more important than your organizational system. You can be as organized as you want, but it will all fall apart if nothing gets put away. Make sure everyone knows where everything is and how it should be put back. Pick a couple promising freshmen and make them pit monkeys. They're in charge of the "get me this tool" and when the robot goes to queue, one of them stays behind to man the pit and clean up for after the match, when it'll get crazy again. The freshmen will be honored to have the job (I know I was) and it'll keep your pit clean and organized.
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MORT 11
-2005 New Jersey Regional Chairman's Award Winner
-2006 Palmetto Regional Winner
-2007 New York Regional Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology Award
-2008 New Jersey Regional Finalist, Chesapeake Regional Winner, Championship Event Overall Top Seed
HB 2399
-2009 Buckeye Regional Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology Award, Pittsburgh Regional GM Industrial Design Award

Last edited by FourPenguins : 17-09-2006 at 21:50.