Petition to end the shouting of ROBOT

[Gregor]

I really dislike it when others feel the need to shout robot for you as you walk through the pits. Thanks for trying and all, but I can say excuse me myself just fine.

[efoote868]

2008 is when I remember being "escorted" in Atlanta; I don't remember the practice in 2006.

I can attest to the loudness of Boilermaker Regional. To give you some perspective, the regional takes place inside the Armory; you can hear the cheering within (during eliminations) from two blocks away, while you can hear gunfire within from about a block away (yes, it is a shooting range.)


I think a bigger issue than shouting ROBOT is the sheer number of people inside the pits. I think FIRST would do well to have signs posted "NO LOITERING IN THE PITS" next to the signs requiring safety glasses. Until that happens, ALL teams would do well to explain to their members and visitors that the pits are dangerous, crowded, and not a good place to be if you don't have a specific reason to be there.

[MrJohnston]

I very much disagree with the idea of limitting pit access. The pits are the best place to come and interact with students, see the robots up close and really learning what goes into them. As I lead a field trip of fourth graders around, I noticed their fascination with their close-up view of robots and they loved watching HS kids making repairs. They REALLY loved collecting buttons, etc. For them, it was their coolest field trip ever - something they will never forget - talking about inspiring another generation of engineers! Instead, we need to focus on doing whatever needs to be done in order to keep them safe from teh masses we invite to the competitions.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by MrJohnston

I very much disagree with the idea of limitting pit access. The pits are the best place to come and interact with students, see the robots up close and really learning what goes into them. As I lead a field trip of fourth graders around, I noticed their fascination with their close-up view of robots and they loved watching HS kids making repairs. They REALLY loved collecting buttons, etc. For them, it was their coolest field trip ever - something they will never forget - talking about inspiring another generation of engineers! Instead, we need to focus on doing whatever needs to be done in order to keep them safe from teh masses we invite to the competitions.

I agree that primary access limitations should come out of the teams' allocations rather than visitors. Or rather, the teams' pits themselves. I'd be willing to get that if we enforced having whoever was in a specific pit actually in that pit--with any volume reductions intended to come out of that teams' members or setup--a lot of this issue would go away. Instead, 'safety' seems to have degenerated into spectacle. (That doesn't downplay the need for coordinating traffic flow and maybe some larger tour groups, but hopefully not to the point of damaging FIRST's mission or image.)

Originally Posted by David Brinza

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.

I should have done this. We once had one harass us so much about this that we didn't get a chance to finish before our next match (we only had a few minutes as it was). It's sad when such an important and generally professional and helpful volunteer cohort gets such a bad rap due to poor training.

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by MrJohnston

I very much disagree with the idea of limitting pit access. The pits are the best place to come and interact with students, see the robots up close and really learning what goes into them. As I lead a field trip of fourth graders around, I noticed their fascination with their close-up view of robots and they loved watching HS kids making repairs. They REALLY loved collecting buttons, etc. For them, it was their coolest field trip ever - something they will never forget - talking about inspiring another generation of engineers! Instead, we need to focus on doing whatever needs to be done in order to keep them safe from teh masses we invite to the competitions.

The culprits who cause crwoded pits aren't normally spectators or media or local groups coming to see what's going on. It's normally students from the same team using the pit as a social haven. I'm fine with people who don't normally see what goes on behind the bumpers looking in the pits for a few minutes and asking questions, because they are genuinely curious, and usually are polite enough to make room for other robots. It's when there are multitudes of other team members who choose to swarm the pit of their team and also take up all of the aisle that it's an issue.

[BrendanB]

Limiting pit access is not the answer. Something to consider is that every event is different. I've been to competitions where pits are smaller and more cramped to others with very spacious aisles and pits and everything in between. I would be upset if my regional event limited pit access to x individuals per team when I could register for another event and have no restrictions. We can have about 6-8 people working in our pit (and contained in the 10x10 space) and have several more pit scouting or checking out other robots for their own enjoyment at any given time. It would also require a very organized and staffed volunteer system to put in place. I also don't the other xx individuals on my team feel excluded from the pits because they haven't been given the magical pass.

The answer is teams managing their team members. A proper pit manager (whether student, coach, mentor, etc) should make sure their team isn't spilling out of their pit and has a safe number of people. Everyone needs to police themselves to understand when they are needed in the pit area and when they are just in the way. Teams also need to design workable pit spaces. At every regional there are always those teams whose pit decorations and setup take up most of the 10x10 space meaning workers spill into the aisle and anyone who needs to ask a questions must do so from the aisle. Oddly enough those are also the teams with the most bodies around their pit areas. Oh well!

I think FIRST should have 1-2 volunteers per event whose job it is to walk around the pit and address traffic issues. If it becomes part of our culture to keep aisles clear we won't be having these problems.

[CENTURION]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

The answer is teams managing their team members. Everyone needs to police themselves to understand when they are needed in the pit area and when they are just in the way. Teams also need to design workable pit spaces. At every regional there are always those teams whose pit decorations and setup take up most of the 10x10 space meaning workers spill into the aisle and anyone who needs to ask a questions must do so from the aisle. Oddly enough those are also the teams with the most bodies around their pit areas. Oh well!

I think FIRST should have 1-2 volunteers per event whose job it is to walk around the pit and address traffic issues. If it becomes part of our culture to keep aisles clear we won't be having these problems.

Couldn't agree more!

Teams should be limiting the number of people around their own pit.
People looking around, talking to teams and checking out robots I don't see as a big issue, as long as they are mindful of their surroundings. But you really shouldn't have people hanging around the pits who aren't actively working on the robot, talking to judges, or mentors supervising.

[Wendy Holladay]

Manage your own pit.

I vote, yes, stop yelling Robot.

[Lydia Yeckley]

100x this thread. At the Buckeye Regional this past weekend, I literally cringed every time I heard someone belt out "ROBOT". It's a robotics competition, we know. When someone from our team began to do it, I would quickly mention to him/her to maybe say "Excuse us, please".
When we did that, a positive response came forth. Instead of people scrambling to move, as I concluded is the average reaction to hearing yells of mechanical entities moving forth in the aisle, people calmly stepped aside and said "No problem", to which we replied "Thank you".
It's not about letting everyone know that YOU are coming through, you're just taking safe and calm precautions to get to where you're going while preventing headaches and panic.

On the other side of things, it is a sense of tradition that would be lost to history. Then again, so did personalized, team bumpers, and reserving seats in arenas.

The shouting of "ROBOT" is like a cowbell at Cross Country races, you hate the sound so much, especially when you're not running. But when you leave the race, or the season ends, you miss it.

However, I, too, vote in favor to end it. Or at least reduce the possibility of it happening.

[216Robochick288]

Signed. There are more effective means of clearing a path, the best to be have someone who stands 5 feet or so in front of the cart tapping peoples shoulders as a warning.

After a short time at competitions hearing about how a robot is moving the entire competition away from where you are, the next time you hear it behind you, you tend to ignore it... Its pretty bad how by the end of the first day, what you use to identify movement of heavy robots are generally ignored because its hard to tell where they are coming from when they are all the same loudness.

I find the best is to be just a bit on the quiet side. Its so different from everything else that it catches the attention better.

Also, you may want to add a limit on the DJ's volume, because if its too loud, its difficult to hear yourself think let alone hearing "Excuse me, I have a robot behind me."

[MrJohnston]

I agree that teams need to work on keeping their kids from crowding around the pit.... I have a team of nearly 100 students and can attest that it is possible - albeit difficult at times. (When the robot has an accident, for instance, kids naturally want to see for themselves what happened.) We do chase them away (back to the stands) telling them that a runner (usually me) will come to the stands with a full update as soon as the issue is diagnosed. In order to help with this we: Volunteer for every single job we can (safety goggles, FLL judge, field reset, etc.); Over-scout, assigning very specific tasks for students; formally organizing cheering. As there is no limit to the number of kids who can cheer at once, our students *always* have something to do.

We very much do encourage our kdis to visit everybody else's bit as it helps them to ask questions about the engineering behind other teams' robots and build communication skills - something that some of our more mathematically-minded kids can use to improve. It would be shameful to end this practice.

The biggest thing we need is a venue that can handle us. In Seattle on both Friday and Saturday, we had a problem in that the stands completely filled (aside from a few seats from which the field could not be seen), the aisle between the stands and the field became overly-crowded and there was not anywhere to go.

[Sam390250]

Originally Posted by Tetraman

Lets stick it in the rule book, next to the part where you can't save seats at the venues. I'm sure everyone will follow the rule then.

While a rule may not be as effective as we would wish, my main point is that Safety Advisers should not be rewarding/encouraging this behavior.

[bfish888]

I find the shouting of robot very annoying and obnoxious. My coach tells our team never to shout robot. Instead, you should say, "Excuse me, robot coming through." or "Could you please move, robot coming through." Even when we were late to a match, we still continued to hold to this term.

[Siri]

I propose that if a letter is actually drafted for FIRST HQ, it be centered not just around safety advisers mandating "ROBOT!", but around better safety advice in general, including but not limited to:

1. Advocating the Polite Vanguard Technique
2. Further encouraging pit activities to be confined to the pit (namely by the safety advisers advising any team that cannot contain its equipment, personnel and visitors to change one of the former)
3. Examining the practices required and rewarded by safety advisers and the safety award (safe or spectacle? how are advisers trained?)

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Lydia Yeckley

On the other side of things, it is a sense of tradition that would be lost to history. Then again, so did personalized, team bumpers, and reserving seats in arenas.

It's what...err, one, two, three...seven* years old? I'd really like to know how it became tradition in the first place. Was it at a Green Shirt meeting in 2007 or something? The UL winner at Championships? (I actually don't remember in the Mid-Atlantic until 2008.)


*wait, no, seven? seriously, seven? I don't want to be old

[theanimal160]

Originally Posted by Alexa Stott

I CAN'T STAND WHEN PEOPLE YELL "ROBOT." IT'S RUDE AND OBNOXIOUS AND, HONESTLY, MANY OF ITS DEFENDERS IN THIS THREAD ARE ONLY REINFORCING THAT POINT.

AND TO WHOEVER POSTED THAT DISCOURAGING PEOPLE FROM YELLING IS A BILL OF RIGHTS VIOLATION--YES, YOU ARE MORE OR LESS ALLOWED TO SAY WHAT YOU WANT; YOU'RE ALSO ALLOWED TO HAVE YOU AND YOUR TEAM COME OFF AS A BUNCH OF RUDE, ARROGANT KIDS. [/size]

The irony in this is brilliant. I happen to find it annoying when people feel it necessary to increase their text size to get their point across.