pic: Design Challenge: Pits

[Carol]

MOE uses two rolling workbenches that were built in the robot lab by the team over several years. They have two overhead, removable shelving units. Dissassembled, the whole pit can fit in the back of a pickup truck for transport to events. One workbench is shown above. They have a built in vise and I think a drill press.

You can get Autodesk drawings and a ppt presentation on the design at http://moe365.org/moepit.php

We don't like overhead ceilings or walls either - too limiting. And it's nice to be able to interact with your neighbors. We also don't really have room to display banners or large signs. But in addition to the workbenches there is a tall separate shelf to display info about the team and some small assorted boxes for parts. The setup can adapt to any size pit area.

We used to have a 25 (green of course) tower with a rotating light on top that was made from some scrap carpet stretchers a team member found. But now they have height limits, so it was cut down to 10 ft and now has an electronic message board on top and a clock.

[akoscielski3]

Originally Posted by Carol

MOE uses two rolling workbenches that were built in the robot lab by the team over several years. They have two overhead, removable shelving units. Dissassembled, the whole pit can fit in the back of a pickup truck for transport to events. One workbench is shown above. They have a built in vise and I think a drill press.

You can get Autodesk drawings and a ppt presentation on the design at http://moe365.org/moepit.php

We don't like overhead ceilings or walls either - too limiting. And it's nice to be able to interact with your neighbors. We also don't really have room to display banners or large signs. But in addition to the workbenches there is a tall separate shelf to display info about the team and some small assorted boxes for parts. The setup can adapt to any size pit area.

We used to have a 25 (green of course) tower with a rotating light on top that was made from some scrap carpet stretchers a team member found. But now they have height limits, so it was cut down to 10 ft and now has an electronic message board on top and a clock.

WOW! I like them even better than ours. I expecially like the "Book" Shelfe you have over top. This could probably be something we could add to our pits pretty easily if we got everything donated.

Something I would highly recomend to teams that are planning on building pits it that Extrusion (ex. Mosch, or MK Extrusion (we used MK)) is the way to go, because it is so easy to build, and easy to modify. Though it isnt the lightest thing in the world you would have an easy time working with it and transporting your pits to and from competitions. Putting Casters on you cabinets like we do and MOE has are the best possible thing (especially if you have a ramped trailer). Preventing Any type of injuries is the best thing you can do.

Pits are something I always want to have nice looking, because i'm in there all competition and I wouldnt be able to stand going to a dirty and unorganized pit to fix the robot in the heat of competition. It saves time too.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by JonathanZur1836

This thread reminded me of the two story pits; I have never seen them myself as they were outlawed before my rookie year, but it sounds awesome just from the sound of it, as long as it is sturdy and there is some sort of railing to stop people from falling.

There was a lot of room for activities.

[1502]

I'm blind

[JonathanZur1836]

[quote=artdutra04;1173081]There was a lot of room for activities.



Lol I like the gif

[1502]

Keep an eye out for a picture of my newest pit design as I just uploaded it.

[1502]

My newest design is up if you want to see it!

[Astrokid248]

Originally Posted by 1502

My newest design is up if you want to see it!

Can't tell where your picture is supposed to be, can you post it here?

[akoscielski3]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/38035?
heres his design

[Siri]

Originally Posted by 1502

My newest design is up if you want to see it! [http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/38035?]

Very cool. You could even put fans on top of your cabinets.

What vehicle do you have to transport your pit to/from events (including Worlds), though? This looks a little space-consuming. Also, you say the benches are lighter than MOE's; are they still structurally sound, and how heavy is the cabinet the monitor is on?

Call me short, but I might have trouble seeing and retrieving items from the top-shelf cabinets. Of course, your team may not have that issue (but remember that pit crews change over time).

[Astrokid248]

Originally Posted by Siri

Call me short, but I might have trouble seeing and retrieving items from the top-shelf cabinets. Of course, your team may not have that issue (but remember that pit crews change over time).

We had the same issue, the bottom of the highest shelf is 6 feet tall (stupidly enough, the designer is 5'1" and didn't think this was an issue). We solved it with a step stool. There's some nifty foldable ones you can buy that are easy to transport.

I'd make sure that banner is at ten feet for visibility, beyond that, this looks like it will fit under a bus or in a trailer nicely. Keep in mind that under bus storage is generally 2.5 to 3 feet tall at max, so everything needs to collapse to that size if you use a bus. Otherwise, make sure your trailer is tall enough. The Robonauts trailer is about 6 feet tall, 4 feet wide and 10 or 12 feet deep, and I can guarantee your pit design would fit in our trailer comfy. Smaller trailers might be a bit iffy, but it could work.

[akoscielski3]

I love the design. Especially those added top shelves.

I know "Astrokid248" said that your design would fit nicely in their trailer, but im not sure how. If you rtrailer is 4 feet wide, then it doesnt look like you will have enough room. From my judgment it looks like each of the cabinets are 3 feet deep and then the table is just less than that, meaning you would need atleast 1 9 foot wide trailer. Unless you plan on having the table go sideways in the trailer. either way if the cabinets are 3 feet wide u would need a 6+ foot trailer. Make sure you have a big enough trailer to fit everything in.

What are the dimensions on your pit cabinets and table? and can you make your pit smaller if it isnt a 10x10 pit? ours fits in a 9x9 area.

[1502]

I'm the tallest on the team (6'2") and the average is decently shorter so I made the the top of the high cabinet 5'6". They are 5 feet long by 2 feet deep and the bench top is 32" (or average counter top height). The tops would be able to be separated from the bottoms if they couldn't fit through the trailer opening. The smaller table is 2 feet by 4 feet. The door width of our trailer is 4 feet and the inside width is around 6 feet with a depth of about 12 feet so all this would fit nicely inside.

Everything can be rolled together closer for an 8x8 and still have enough room to move about.

[Astrokid248]

Perfect. Can't wait to see the pit when you get it built.

[Alexa Stott]

Originally Posted by EricH

If you want extra lighting, try some clip-on lights attached to the top rails, or some form of small spotlight-ish light that can be attached there. They're adjustable in angle, and if you do it right you can bring one down and light up particularly troublesome dark spots.

We usually have one or two of those clip-on lamps for when we need a little extra light. That seems to be more than adequate for those moments. They can be easily stored when not in use too.

Originally Posted by JonathanZur1836

This thread reminded me of the two story pits; I have never seen them myself as they were outlawed before my rookie year, but it sounds awesome just from the sound of it, as long as it is sturdy and there is some sort of railing to stop people from falling.

That's the first thing I was reminded of when I saw this thread. I even dug up the old thread on it.

Since I'm here anyway, here's a picture of our pits from this year:


Nothing too fancy, but it has plenty of storage for all our stuff which is probably most important.

I always liked the teams who shipped two crates to each event and had one that sort of folded out into their pit area. (237 comes to mind, though I've not been at an event with them in a while so I don't really know if they still do that. Either way it is/was cool.)