Petition to end the shouting of ROBOT

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by David8696

I personally like the shouting of "Robot." It's my first year in FIRST, and when I showed up at my first regional, I loved hearing "Robot! Robot!" every few minutes. And I think it's very helpful to know when to get out of the way. Quite frankly, politeness is not worth the increased risk, even if it's only very slightly increased, that the robot that you've spent the last month working on could be injured.

...it's not the robot we're worried about getting injured...

[Tungrus]

At our regional we had one of our team member play drum and call out "hear ye hear ye...our robot is here ye!"

Bumping into public with robot or cart is not only rude, but dangerous too! I like the venues that have one door for robot entry and one for exit like Waterford, MI!

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by David8696

I personally like the shouting of "Robot." It's my first year in FIRST, and when I showed up at my first regional, I loved hearing "Robot! Robot!" every few minutes. And I think it's very helpful to know when to get out of the way. Quite frankly, politeness is not worth the increased risk, even if it's only very slightly increased, that the robot that you've spent the last month working on could be injured.

I love how everyone who posts in this thread who is in favor of yelling "Robot!" just further reinforces my points stated in the original post.

[Mr. Van]

To me, the real problem is that so many teams seem to believe that the yelling of "Robot!" somehow gives them the right of way - and that the louder they yell, the more everyone should get out of their way.

As noted before, if you are late, that is not the fault of everyone in the pits. Get a good, polite vanguard to ensure safe passage. That's all that's needed.

I'd not seen the term "Safety Theater" but it seems appropriate. The floor littered with safety flyers is NOT safe. People yelling for no reason is not safe. My guess is that those flyers would go away if the award didn't exist... In fact how much of FRC "tradition" would change if the awards didn't exist?

- Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox

[gabrielau23]

Originally Posted by Mr. Van

To me, the real problem is that so many teams seem to believe that the yelling of "Robot!" somehow gives them the right of way - and that the louder they yell, the more everyone should get out of their way.

As noted before, if you are late, that is not the fault of everyone in the pits. Get a good, polite vanguard to ensure safe passage. That's all that's needed.

I'd not seen the term "Safety Theater" but it seems appropriate. The floor littered with safety flyers is NOT safe. People yelling for no reason is not safe. My guess is that those flyers would go away if the award didn't exist... In fact how much of FRC "tradition" would change if the awards didn't exist?

- Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox

See, that's what I don't want to see. I don't like it when people think they're ENTITLED to having the right of way when they have a robot. What I don't like is when there are 64 teams at a regional (ahem, DC and Chesapeake), and there are ~too many people in the pit area. I mean, there's music, the stands are ALL full (and this is a large, large convention center), there's machines running...all of this leads to a very chaotic, loud environment. However, some people just like to loaf around outside the pit, not really paying attention to anything in particular. These are the people for which, "ROBOT!" is the only way to get them to pay attention. As someone who was part of a "robot convoy" for 2537 (drive team), I've found that it's nearly impossible in some cases to get some people to pay attention. I've never been to a smaller regional so I don't know if this is a problem there as well, but all of the regionals I've been to have had 63+ teams except for DC this year, which had 59. With all those teams, it's.....hard to expect everybody to be able to see a robot all the time.

[dcarr]

Originally Posted by gabrielau23

See, that's what I don't want to see. I don't like it when people think they're ENTITLED to having the right of way when they have a robot. What I don't like is when there are 64 teams at a regional (ahem, DC and Chesapeake), and there are ~too many people in the pit area. I mean, there's music, the stands are ALL full (and this is a large, large convention center), there's machines running...all of this leads to a very chaotic, loud environment. However, some people just like to loaf around outside the pit, not really paying attention to anything in particular. These are the people for which, "ROBOT!" is the only way to get them to pay attention. As someone who was part of a "robot convoy" for 2537 (drive team), I've found that it's nearly impossible in some cases to get some people to pay attention. I've never been to a smaller regional so I don't know if this is a problem there as well, but all of the regionals I've been to have had 63+ teams except for DC this year, which had 59. With all those teams, it's.....hard to expect everybody to be able to see a robot all the time.

Like sanddrag I was at the LA Regional. 65 teams, still no need to yell ROBOT.

[gabrielau23]

Originally Posted by dcarr

Like sanddrag I was at the LA Regional. 65 teams, still no need to yell ROBOT.

I don't think, for me, it's so much what I yell so much as that I yell. People just need something to let them know that a robot is coming down the aisle. We had about 2-3 people going down ahead of the robot. One of them was me. Sometimes, I did need to yell. Should it be regular practice? Absolutely not. Is it necessary sometimes? IMO, without a doubt yes.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by gabrielau23

I don't think, for me, it's so much what I yell so much as that I yell.

Yelling to be heard is OK in my book. Being impolite is not.

[gabrielau23]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Yelling to be heard is OK in my book. Being impolite is not.

Then we're on the same page. ^^^See post above. I don't like impoliteness either. Drive teams are not entitled to having people move out of their way. However, "banning" would be quite harsh in my book.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by gabrielau23

People just need something to let them know that a robot is coming down the aisle. We had about 2-3 people going down ahead of the robot. One of them was me. Sometimes, I did need to yell.

I'm having a hard time visualizing this. Were people standing firm when you asked them to move, only giving way when you shouted at them? Were you actually trying to get their attention with a calm "excuse me" and/or a tap on the shoulder, or were you just walking and expecting them to understand that you wanted to clear a space for a robot following you?

[gabrielau23]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

I'm having a hard time visualizing this. Were people standing firm when you asked them to move, only giving way when you shouted at them? Were you actually trying to get their attention with a calm "excuse me" and/or a tap on the shoulder, or were you just walking and expecting them to understand that you wanted to clear a space for a robot following you?

Basically it's extra people standing outside of the pit. We call out "Excuse me." If that doesn't work we tap them on the shoulder because usually these are the people who have their back to us. By the time we yell, "ROBOT!!" or something of the like, it's...not really a "last resort", but more like, hey, um, we've asked nicely twice, please, there's a 135 lb. robot coming through with a large driver station and cart and there's no more room in the aisle.

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by gabrielau23

Basically it's extra people standing outside of the pit. We call out "Excuse me." If that doesn't work we tap them on the shoulder because usually these are the people who have their back to us. By the time we yell, "ROBOT!!" or something of the like, it's...not really a "last resort", but more like, hey, um, we've asked nicely twice, please, there's a 135 lb. robot coming through with a large driver station and cart and there's no more room in the aisle.

You're saying people still didn't get out of your way after you tapped them on the shoulder? Really?

[gabrielau23]

Originally Posted by Gregor

You're saying people still didn't get out of your way after you tapped them on the shoulder? Really?

Ummm.....yes?

[Alexa Stott]

Originally Posted by David8696

Quite frankly, politeness is not worth the increased risk, even if it's only very slightly increased, that the robot that you've spent the last month working on could be injured.

Are you freaking kidding me?

[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.