Petition to end the shouting of ROBOT

[CENTURION]

Wow, I'm really surprised to see so many people against this practice!

My team only ever goes to one regional, so I guess it's different at others, but I've never heard the call of "ROBOT!" as a "Get out of my way or I'm going to run you over!" sort of thing (Which is certainly rude and arrogant), I've always heard is as a warning, like "FORE" in golf.

We always have people out in front of the cart to clear a path, and don't go ramming the cart through if there are people in the way, but we still yell "ROBOT!" as a warning to people nearby to watch themselves. We also often yell "Watch out! Robot coming through!"

Robots often may have protruding arms or elements that (while inside the frame perimeter of course) may still hit people who thought they were out of the way. If you direct your warnings only to the people in front of you, who are in your way, people on the sides of you may not be looking out for you.

So alerting people in the area, not just the people directly in front of you is necessary in my opinion.

[Tom Line]

Signed.

I find teams who calmly walk through the pits with someone in front of the cart politely asking people to move and saying 'excuse me' far more professional that someone yelling 'robot' constantly.

In some cases the students seem to think that volume is key, and actually hurt your ears as they walk by yelling it.

[gabrielau23]

Originally Posted by CENTURION

Wow, I'm really surprised to see so many people against this practice!

My team only ever goes to one regional, so I guess it's different at others, but I've never heard the call of "ROBOT!" as a "Get out of my way or I'm going to run you over!" sort of thing (Which is certainly rude and arrogant), I've always heard is as a warning, like "FORE" in golf.

We always have people out in front of the cart to clear a path, and don't go ramming the cart through if there are people in the way, but we still yell "ROBOT!" as a warning to people nearby to watch themselves. We also often yell "Watch out! Robot coming through!"

Robots often may have protruding arms or elements that (while inside the frame perimeter of course) may still hit people who thought they were out of the way. If you direct your warnings only to the people in front of you, who are in your way, people on the sides of you may not be looking out for you.

So alerting people in the area, not just the people directly in front of you is necessary in my opinion.

+1, or thumbs up. Totally agreed.

[CalTran]

Perhaps to go along with the Mustang/Cowboy theme our team has going, I'll add a steel cowcatcher to the front of our cart so we don't have to yell "robot" anymore...

On a serious note, comparing yelling "robot" to "fore" is an analogy that I don't think holds. On a golf course, people could be yards and yards away and are already somewhat expecting a golf ball to the head. At a competition, with public pits and what not, people aren't coming for the thrill of getting run over by a sprinting teenager wildly piloting a cart.

[CENTURION]

Originally Posted by CalTran

Perhaps to go along with the Mustang/Cowboy theme our team has going, I'll add a steel cowcatcher to the front of our cart so we don't have to yell "robot" anymore...

On a serious note, comparing yelling "robot" to "fore" is an analogy that I don't think holds. On a golf course, people could be yards and yards away and are already somewhat expecting a golf ball to the head. At a competition, with public pits and what not, people aren't coming for the thrill of getting run over by a sprinting teenager wildly piloting a cart.

Right, and I'm not advocating people barreling down the aisle with 200ish pounds of cart and robot. Go slow, be careful, and watch out for people.

But at the same time, the drivers and robot need to get places, and need people out of their way And we don't want anyone to get hurt when, say, they take a step backwards into the aisle (as teenagers will sometimes do), and get smacked by a robot appendage.