Petition to end the shouting of ROBOT

[Christopher149]

At the events in Michigan I attended, they were almost requiring us to yell robot, which definitely is a change from the past.

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by Christopher149

At the events in Michigan I attended, they were almost requiring us to yell robot, which definitely is a change from the past.

If this happens at the FIRST in Michigan State Championship, someone please come find me. As the Volunteer Coordinator, I can quietly and politely talk to the Safety Advisers to make sure that we're not requiring teams this of teams.

Shouting loud noise over more loud noise does NOT help people listen more. Two quick stories:

At Troy District this weekend the pits are in a completely different room than the field. It's a pretty chill event, the music is not too loud and there is PLENTY of space for teams to get through when queuing for their matches. And yet, teams are yelling, "ROBOT!" at the top of their lungs.

What happens is that when LOTS of people yell the same thing, you start to naturally just not hear them. Which makes for a MORE dangerous situation. My response, once I notice them yelling, is usually, "'Excuse me,' works much better. Please don't yell at me."

To put it in perspective:
The Boilermaker Regional has pits, field and stands all in one big giant room that echoes. In my ten years of participating in FIRST it was the LOUDEST event that I ever attended. The music was insanely loud. The crowd was cheering like crazy all weekend. And the pits had power tools working constantly.
Not ONE team at BMR yelled "ROBOT!"
Indiana hospitality, I suppose. I saw teams walking through pits with robots carefully, always saying, "Excuse me," if someone was in their way, and here's the kicker: NO ONE got hurt.

I have never heard of anyone saving someone from injury by shouting, "ROBOT!" in their ear.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_Grace

The Boilermaker Regional has pits, field and stands all in one big giant room that echoes. In my ten years of participating in FIRST it was the LOUDEST event that I ever attended. The music was insanely loud. The crowd was cheering like crazy all weekend. And the pits had power tools working constantly.
Not ONE team at BMR yelled "ROBOT!"

Two teams did while I was within earshot on Thursday morning. Both of them were quickly reminded that having a team member or two in front of the robot to clear the way would work better with less disruption to the rest of the teams. Since I didn't hear it again, I assume they found that the advice was correct.

Underwriter Laboratories (UL) assigns the Lead Safety Advisor for FRC Regionals. Who would be a good person at UL to talk about robot cart transit practices?

[IndySam]

We have participated in regionals in many different venues including the previously mentioned Boilermaker and we have never shouted robot or been late to a match because of the crowd.

This weekend was a perfect example of why I hate the practice. While standing in my pit a team walked by and a student passing by shouted ROBOT at the top of his lungs right in my ear. It was completely unnecessary.

The opposite example was a large team that we had to pass bye on our way to the field. They almost always were in the way but when we came through with our robot they always quickly and politely cleared the way for us. Very good show of how things should be done.

[CalTran]

So we're competing in Arkansas this week, and even with the tiny arena, it's still unnecessary to yell "Robot!" Sure, you have to slow down because there's a lot of traffic, but when you have a line-of-site from your pit to the field, you don't need to go fast. Even from the teams in the wing, you can probably make it to the field in <5 minutes. So please just slow down, tap people and say "excuse me, please, robot coming through."

[vhcook]

Originally Posted by CalTran

So we're competing in Arkansas this week, and even with the tiny arena, it's still unnecessary to yell "Robot!" Sure, you have to slow down because there's a lot of traffic, but when you have a line-of-site from your pit to the field, you don't need to go fast. Even from the teams in the wing, you can probably make it to the field in <5 minutes. So please just slow down, tap people and say "excuse me, please, robot coming through."

I talked to several of the Robot screamers at Razorback, and I think I made a few converts to the PVT, but there was at least one team that was yelling Robot even when the aisles were completely clear.

[bEdhEd]

My drive team doesn't yell "ROBOT" anymore ever since it was considered obnoxious and unnecessary at the Sacramento Regional and the Silicon Valley Regional. We were probably the WORST offenders when we were still encouraged to yell "ROBOT." We used to yell "ROBOT" continuously when we got to queuing AND we rang a really loud bell that we had since it was the "Golden Bell Award" we got in 2009 for being an outstanding STEM program, so I know all about how ridiculous yelling "ROBOT" can be. We get through the pits fine without yelling it, but every once in a while, there's a large crowd of attendees blocking our way so we do have to yell "ROBOT" to let them know we are there, but we only have one person yell it, and not as loud as we used to. It's not really yelled, but kind of said so that it is louder that the ambient noise in the pits. I do not, however support asking every person in our path to make way. I find it inefficient. So I don't like the yelling of "ROBOT" continuously, especially when nobody is in your way, but I find that it works really well to yell "ROBOT" only when it is necessary and only if our drive team is really getting delayed. Yelling "ROBOT" when you're right behind visitors can be very startling, and when they try to clear the path, they tend to somewhat panic and try to move too fast, in turn running into other people, which I consider a serious hazard. We shouldn't get rid of yelling "ROBOT" entirely, but we should emphasize its use by being considerate with an appropriate volume, and only if it is necessary. This way of letting bystanders know that we are passing through has been working for Team 701, and we hardly ever have to yell anyway.

[Doc Wu]

Originally Posted by Christopher149

At the events in Michigan I attended, they were almost requiring us to yell robot, which definitely is a change from the past.

I have more than once raised an eyebrow to things said by some of the Safety Advisors. The ones who are actually from UL are usually pretty good, but I wonder about the qualifications of some of the others.

I worked in industry where I received extensive safety training in things like lockout/tag out, fall protection, rigging safety, confined space entry and rescue, MSDS, and manlift
operation, so I may know a thing or two from the real world about this.

One thing I have learned to appreciate is to never underestimate the ability of bureaucrats to create rules that seem to make sense on paper, but fail miserably out in the real world where we have to live with them.

This falls into that category.

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Doc Wu

I have more than once raised an eyebrow to things said by some of the Safety Advisors. The ones who are actually from UL are usually pretty good, but I wonder about the qualifications of some of the others.
<snip>

I directly confronted a safety advisor who ordered my student to wear gloves while operating a drill press. I told my student to stop work, but not put gloves on. Then asked the safety advisor to send the lead safety advisor to our pit to explain how wearing gloves was in any way safe around a drill press. The original safety advisor returned a few minutes later and apologized. I wouldn't want a student to lose a hand by having the glove get wrapped into the drill. I would hope safety advisors are correctly briefed on important issues and not on how to create more chaos in the pits.

Something has to be done to reduce the number of "lookie-loos" in the pits, particularly on Sat morning. Teams are already stressed with their final qual matches, alliance selection negotiations, final inspections, watching the team standings displays, etc. Safety should be clearing access in the pit rows by limiting numbers of visitors and dispersing crowds between queuing, inspection and the pits. In Inland Empire, the primary access aisle had to accommodate 44 of the 49 teams. The aisle to queuing ran past pit admin, spare parts, and a couple of monitors showing matches and standings. It was a traffic nightmare. Safety's focus should have been to keep aisles as clear as possible without a chorus of "ROBOT!" "ROBOT!" "ROBOT!" to add to the din.

I voted on the change.org site and am fully supportive of sanddrag's stance.