FIRST -- good for mind, but not for ears

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Posted by Peter VanWylen, Student on team #107, Team ROBOTICS, from Holland Christian High School and Metal Flow Corp..

Posted on 3/28/99 11:40 AM MST



I have really enjoyed my time at the Great Lakes regional this past weekend, in all but one ways. The music was simply too loud. I don't have anything against playing music at the competitions, because it does make it more exciting. However, the decibel levels were dangerously high. High enought that 3 days exposure could cause permantant or temporary hearing damage. Not to mention the headaches that I got(I am sure that I'm not alone). I think that participants should have to right to compete without being subjected to such a danger.

First is doing a good thing in promoting engineering for kids. But wouldn't it be great if tomorrow's engineers didn't need to use hearing aids?

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Posted by Jerry Eckert, Engineer on team #140 from Tyngsboro, MA High School and New England Prototype/Brooks Automation.

Posted on 3/28/99 1:18 PM MST


In Reply to: FIRST -- good for mind, but not for ears posted by Peter VanWylen on 3/28/99 11:40 AM MST:



: I have really enjoyed my time at the Great Lakes regional this past weekend, in all but one ways. The music was simply too loud. I don't have anything against playing music at the competitions, because it does make it more exciting. However, the decibel levels were dangerously high. High enought that 3 days exposure could cause permantant or temporary hearing damage. Not to mention the headaches that I got(I am sure that I'm not alone). I think that participants should have to right to compete without being subjected to such a danger.

: First is doing a good thing in promoting engineering for kids. But wouldn't it be great if tomorrow's engineers didn't need to use hearing aids?

Good points, Peter! And, no, you were not alone in getting headaches from
the high noise levels.

- Jerry

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Posted by Mike King, Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.

Posted on 3/28/99 1:24 PM MST


In Reply to: FIRST -- good for mind, but not for ears posted by Peter VanWylen on 3/28/99 11:40 AM MST:



Let me share a small secret. Tiny foam disposible ear plugs. There unobtrusive, and they work great. And they cost less than 2 bucks, Most pharmacys sell them.

Good Luck

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Posted by Jerry Eckert, Engineer on team #140 from Tyngsboro, MA High School and New England Prototype/Brooks Automation.

Posted on 3/28/99 1:53 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: FIRST -- good for mind, but not for ears posted by Mike King on 3/28/99 1:24 PM MST:



: Let me share a small secret. Tiny foam disposible ear plugs. There unobtrusive, and they work great. And they cost less than 2 bucks, Most pharmacys sell them.

When you roll the foam earplug prior to inserting them, they tend to
trap a lot of dirt from your fingers and transfer it to the outer ear
canal. I used to work in a medical office and saw a number of cases of
otitis externa (outer ear infection) in people who inserted and removed
those things frequently in a work environment (such as the pits at the
FIRST competitions).

At Hartford I saw a lot of families with babies and small children
attending the finals. Ear plugs are not a viable option for most of
them. Would it really hurt that much to keep the turn the amps down
a few decibels?

- Jerry

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Posted by Justin Ridley, Student on team #27, Team Rush, from OSMTech Academy and DaimlerChrysler.

Posted on 3/28/99 4:03 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: FIRST -- good for mind, but not for ears posted by Jerry Eckert on 3/28/99 1:53 PM MST:



Personally I did not mind the music DURING the competion. Now that's just me, and I know many people thought it was too loud, including my Dad who complained about it all the way home. It does add to the excitment and everything, but there is no reason why they can't turn it down a little. Now one thing that did kinda bugged me (and bugged our engineers even more) was on thursday (i'm pretty sure it was thursday but may have been friday) when we were trying to work on the robot. The music was being blasted into the pits. Now it didn't help that we were right by a speaker but for pete sake it was just too loud. When your struggeling to get a robot competition ready, loud music isn't always the best thing. For a while the music got turned off and all of a sudden we could hear what eachother was saying, it was wonderful. . .then it got turned back on. If thier gonna keep the music loud, turn it down in the pits.

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Posted by Michael Martus, Coach on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central H.S. and Delphi Automotives Systems.

Posted on 3/28/99 8:18 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: FIRST -- good for mind, but not for ears posted by Justin Ridley on 3/28/99 4:03 PM MST:



: Personally I did not mind the music DURING the competion. Now that's just me, and I know many people thought it was too loud, including my Dad who complained about it all the way home. It does add to the excitment and everything, but there is no reason why they can't turn it down a little. Now one thing that did kinda bugged me (and bugged our engineers even more) was on thursday (i'm pretty sure it was thursday but may have been friday) when we were trying to work on the robot. The music was being blasted into the pits. Now it didn't help that we were right by a speaker but for pete sake it was just too loud. When your struggeling to get a robot competition ready, loud music isn't always the best thing. For a while the music got turned off and all of a sudden we could hear what eachother was saying, it was wonderful. . .then it got turned back on. If thier gonna keep the music loud, turn it down in the pits.


In the pits it is very important to communicate with persons using power tools and the loud music make it very dangerous.

A lower vol. would be nice as I have hearing damage as it is by working with motorcycles, car engines and machinery.
The loud music conflicts with the constant ringing I have from loud noises.
Once your hearing is damaged by loud noises It cannot, in most cases be repaired.
The constant ringing is is a real bother.

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Posted by Thomas A. Frank, Engineer on team #121, The Islanders/Rhode Warrior, from Middletown (RI) High School and Naval Undersea Warfare Center.

Posted on 4/1/99 11:18 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: FIRST -- good for mind, but not for ears posted by Michael Martus on 3/28/99 8:18 PM MST:



Hello All;

I will certainly go along with the opinions expressed in this thread! It's way too
loud at most FIRST competitions, both in the pits and in the stands.

The exception seemed (to me) to be Philly, where the stands were actually not too bad. I'll
chalk that up to being in a very well built facility. The pits, however, more than made up
for it by being way too loud - so bad that some teams turned down the speakers, and got yelled
at by FIRST for it.

I suspect that FL will not be nearly as bad (it hasn't been in the past, most likely due to being outdoors).
But I'll email Lori and suggest they keep this in mind.

Maybe next year won't have to be quite as unpleasant on the ears.

If FIRST really wanted to get fancy, they could get a low power FM radio transmitter and broadcast the pit
announcements; that way, there would be no requirement for a loud speaker system in the pits. Teams could
bring a small portable radio to monitor this channel, and individuals could use Walkman type devices for the same thing.

Tom Frank

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Posted by Jon, Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Mass Academy of Math and Science and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Posted on 4/3/99 1:55 AM MST


In Reply to: Let's petition FIRST (was Re: FIRST -- good for mind, but not for ears) posted by Thomas A. Frank on 4/1/99 11:18 AM MST:



Maybe i'm too young or have simply learned to block loud amps in the midst of things but while i can agree on the pit issue, i can't say that it's been too loud in the stands...
i think that either more and better speaker placement in the pits or the cool FM transmitter thing would certainly help things out because there were many a time when i was just scratching my head and asking to my teammates if they knew what in the world the announcer said and it does hamper team communication in those crucial robot-fixing moments.
As for the stands, it's only horrible when you have to be directly in front of the speakers (ala Music Theater @ Hartford, or the FIRST camp @ Epcot) to get a decent view of the game (which is kinda important to the intelligence gathering branches of teams and those engineers not on the field).
I do like the loud music because it does appeal to some of the younger crowd, maybe a part that wouldn't have thought that robotics could be so cool or so exciting... that and the ESPN coverage... i'm really curious on how they'll handle this year's game...
just my two cents,
jon