A plea for a quieter pit area

[JaneYoung]

At the Alamo Regional, I asked the safety captains to go that extra mile and be the eyes of the the pit crew and also the eyes of what was going on around them. We had so many rookie teams that I wanted them to experience looking around and staying aware of what was going on.

I also asked the safety captains on the corner pits to be mindful/watchful of robots coming through and to help keep the aisle in their area, clear. The teams that I asked did an extraordinary job of keeping things moving without hazard.

One area that can continually be improved upon is talking with the team before the event and having a plan to keep the pit safe, the aisles around them clear, and be a part of keeping the flow smooth. Excited happy teams can really clog the aisles, grouping together or individually. Being mindful of that, especially as Saturday rolls around, is very helpful. It has nothing to do with yelling, 'robot coming through', it has everything to do with each team doing their part to control their area and keep it clog-free.

Jane

[Sunshine]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

Close your eyes and think. Can you imagine a quiet pit area? Aside from the announcer and the audience, you'd have a quiet competition. I think the noise is what helps make it so exciting!

Well, on a safety note, we took decibel readings in the pit area at the Milwaukee regional. Our calculations said that you should be wearing ear plugs if you stayed in the area for more than 4 hours.

[548swimmer]

While at the Waterford District, we had seemingly endless problems with our robot on Friday, and were frequently working right up until the "Please send your human player" call. While I agree that screaming robot is often unnecessary, when we were running that late, and there were groups of students standing in the middle of the aisle socializing, it seemed necessary.

As for the "echo" of robot-calls, that's annoying.

One robot call is usually sufficient, and if it is not, the call can be repeated at the discretion of the robot-movers.

This being said, I make sure only to call robot when we need to get to the field immediately.

Originally Posted by Sunshine

Well, on a safety note, we took decibel readings in the pit area at the Milwaukee regional. Our calculations said that you should be wearing ear plugs if you stayed in the area for more than 4 hours.

I personally don't know how loud it is at Milwaukee, but at the Silicon Valley Regional, the noise level is reasonable. It's not too loud, but it's loud enough to make the competition exciting!

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by 548swimmer

This being said, I make sure only to call robot when we need to get to the field immediately.

A lot of folks like to compare FRC to sports. In many sports, the action takes place on the field. The panic/stress/pressure/changes/improvements occur on the field and in the locker room/dugouts, etc., and visitors, guests, fans don't have access to those areas. The chaos/changes are contained and outside contributions to crowding and potential chaos are minimized, allowing teams to focus on the job at hand.

In FRC, there is a direct connection between the field activity and the pits. The distance between the two can contribute to stress and pressure on the teams competing, as they travel back and forth to maintain the level of competition that they are on or working to improve on.

In this area, the BEST robotics competitions that I've been involved in, have it over FRC, hands down. Only people who wear a badge/team name tag are allowed in the pits. The teams are given a certain number of tags at check-in and the team members can swap them out among themselves, as needed, but it keeps things running a lot more smoothly between the pits and the field(s). FRC invites everyone and their mother to tour the pits, enter the pits, camp in the pits, party in the pits. Then FRC expects a handful of safety advisors to maintain order by giving positive feedback through awards. Righhhhhht.

The way to establish order and allow the teams to excel in their competition is to keep the pits running/flowing smoothly and efficiently. Parents, fans, and guests don't expect to run to the dugout or the locker room during innings or half-times. They deal with it. They can deal with it in robotics, too. There could be times built into the competition for guests and visitors to visit the pits and get a tour but to be able to have ready access to the pits during the entire competition puts a lot of senseless stress/pressure on the competing teams.

Jane

[GGCO]

I wish CD had a like button. This thread is spot on.

Yes, I agree that people need to stay alert in the pits and stay clear of teams moving in and out, but shouting ROBOT as loud as you can it just annoying. It might actually, have the reverse affect because people, over time, may just tune it out.

I think what each team can (and should) do is limit the number of students in their pit to essential people only - 2 students, 3 at max. This is what our team does and it has two major effects:

1. Keeps the pit safe/organized
2. When our robot breaks, the best students are working on it which ensures that the robot is fixed as quick as possible and no time is wasted.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by KStout#3536

well im part of a rookie team and dont know every detail of every rule but the saftey advisors that were at the kettering comp. told us that it is actually a rule, there must be one person in front of the cart/robot being pulled yelling robot and everyone else who is pulling/pushing or around the cart must be yelling robot as well. hope this clears the air on this topic abit.

Can you please quote this "rule"?

I can understand the point the safety advisor was trying to make to you guys, but that just seems like blind advice. Sure, people will probably get out of your way as a parade of robot yelling passes them by, but there are better ways to do this that aren't terribly distracting.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by KStout#3536

this is just something that the safety advisors told us, like i said were a rookie team and dont know to much so we just went with it.

see my revised post above.

[Dustin Shadbolt]

I agree. There are times when I wasn't even close to a robot on the move and still heard a earful of ROBOT. There are times when it is useful but if you are one of the only teams really moving on lets say Thursday, there isn't much use for it. I would prefer being tapped or asked nicely to step aside. There are visitors always in the pits and I'm not sure they will like being yelled at to move out the way. Gracious Professionalism. Now given there was times when I preoccupied with other things in my mind or talking to a student and I didn't hear a team or two. But that is only once in a great while.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

Can you please quote this "rule"?

I can understand the point the safety advisor was trying to make to you guys, but that just seems like blind advice. Sure, people will probably get out of your way as a parade of robot yelling passes them by, but there are better ways to do this that aren't terribly distracting.

I'm wondering if that happened at the safety captains meeting or if it was advice given to teams, individually.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

A lot of folks like to compare FRC to sports. In many sports, the action takes place on the field. The panic/stress/pressure/changes/improvements occur on the field and in the locker room/dugouts, etc., and visitors, guests, fans don't have access to those areas. The chaos/changes are contained and outside contributions to crowding and potential chaos are minimized, allowing teams to focus on the job at hand.

In FRC, there is a direct connection between the field activity and the pits. The distance between the two can contribute to stress and pressure on the teams competing, as they travel back and forth to maintain the level of competition that they are on or working to improve on.

In this area, the BEST robotics competitions that I've been involved in, have it over FRC, hands down. Only people who wear a badge/team name tag are allowed in the pits. The teams are given a certain number of tags at check-in and the team members can swap them out among themselves as needed but it keeps the things running a lot more smoothly between the pits and the field(s). FRC invites everyone and their mother to tour the pits, enter the pits, camp in the pits, party in the pits. Then FRC expects a handful of safety advisors to maintain order by giving positive feedback through awards. Righhhhhht.

The way to establish order and allow the teams to excel in their competition is to keep the pits running/flowing smoothly and efficiently. Parents, fans, and guests don't expect to run to the dugout or the locker room during innings or half-times. They deal with it. They can deal with it in robotics, too. There could be times built into the competition for guests and visitors to visit the pits and get a tour but to be able to have ready access to the pits during the entire competition puts a lot of senseless stress/pressure on the competing teams.

Jane

I remember when I went to the state science fair in middle school and in both 7th and 8th grade there were times allowed for the regular public to come in and walk around and look but then there was a specified time where only judges could be in there with the students. I think this would be a good thing to implement and specify when others could come in after competition matches had been played for that day and go and look around and talk to the teams as they "show off" their robots.

[PhilBot]

At Pittsburgh, we were at the end of an isle, right next to the queuing area. So we heard a lot of "Robot" calls.

One particularly stupid child (wearing green if I recall correctly) was pulling a robot cart, walking backwards, not looking where they were going, yelling AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS...

"Robot coming, I'm pulling a robot, and I'm walking backwards without looking where I'm going".

Seriously... When did announcing your stupid behavior make it OK?

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by PhilBot

At Pittsburgh, we were at the end of an isle, right next to the queuing area. So we heard a lot of "Robot" calls.

One particularly stupid child (wearing green if I recall correctly) was pulling a robot cart, walking backwards, not looking where they were going, yelling AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS...

"Robot coming, I'm pulling a robot, and I'm walking backwards without looking where I'm going".

Seriously... When did announcing your stupid behavior make it OK?

They should have been stopped and that person replaced right there on the spot. And one of their mentors should have been told about it, immediately.

Jane

[pfreivald]

Originally Posted by PhilBot

Seriously... When did announcing your stupid behavior make it OK?

Clearly, you don't pay much attention to politics...

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by KStout#3536

i see your point and i agree with you, so if anyone can come up with a way to alert all of the surrounding pits that you are pulling a robot through without being loud, annoying and late for your match please let the CD community know haha

Not to be rude, but if you had read this thread you will already see many suggestions on how to do such a thing.

Believe me, I've done this for a long time now, and I've never shouted ROBOT..and guess what? I can't recall ever missing a match either...

-Brando