[Chris Fultz]

If you have the space in your work area at school (or where-ever you meet), create a pit space by marking 10' x 10'* on the floor, then put up some pretend dividers to identify the space you have.

Place a work table, your robot and cart, and the other items you want in your pit. Use boxes or other equipment to simulate the sizes of items if you need to.

Then, move around and do some 'work' in the area to see how it feels and how much room you have. Sometimes there is a big difference between how it looks in a CAD file and how it is to work in an area.

Think about how many people will be in the pit at one time, where you want to place displays, where to talk to judges, etc.

We had some new layout ideas last year, and doing this in the lab helped us determine what would work and what would not. We also kept our final layout set up for our open house, so that sponsors, friends and families could see what our pit looked like at a competition.

* If you go to events wher the pits are uaually smaller, then set up for an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9.