Shorts?

[Joe Ross]

Here's what 358's drive team wears:
http://www.team358.org/history/2010/...i/IMG_7517.jpg
http://www.team358.org/history/2012/...i/P1010884.jpg

[protoserge]

We enforce pants as part of our team uniform. I had no problem with temperature at the arena or pits the last 2 years and don't expect it to be any different this year.

In general, anyone actively working on the robot should wear pants because it's the smart thing to do.

[treffk]

My personal opinion is I do not like shorts in the pit area. This is just a personal preference that I try to enforce on our team. It's a safety think in my mind for the reasons that others have mentioned.

On a side note I also don't like morph suits either. I've actually tried to get students to take the hoods off if they are in the pits.

Although I do agree that I would rather enforce shoes, glasses, hair and extremely low hanging jewelry around the robot than nitpick about shorts.

When I was a student on the team I was 1 of the 2 (only 2 our team has every had in the 8 years of existence) cheerleaders on the team. I got permission to wear my uniform around the arena for the events. On that same line if I was wearing my skirt I always had pants underneath while in the pits.

[Travis Hoffman]

I wore shorts to Finger Lakes in February and liked it.

I've worn them for 13 years and have suffered no significant injuries whilst working in the pits. Of course, I leave all the mucking around on the floor to the mechanical folks. :-)

[brndn]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

Here's what 358's drive team wears:
http://www.team358.org/history/2010/...i/IMG_7517.jpg
http://www.team358.org/history/2012/...i/P1010884.jpg

It has escalated quite a bit...



edit: Last year I was asked to change on the grounds that the shorts were unsafe.

[Justin Montois]

I haven't worn pants to a robotics competition in about 4 years. No one has said a word.

This is how we roll

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by treffk

On a side note I also don't like morph suits either. I've actually tried to get students to take the hoods off if they are in the pits.

I 100% agree with morph suits being unsafe. Having worn a few of them, I can attest that the visibility varies from suit to suit, but it's still impairs your vision. Not to mention that there's no way for someone looking at you to know where your focus is - they don't know if you're deep in thought, or waiting a few more seconds to move out of the way of the robot headed your way.

[CENTURION]

Originally Posted by Camren

If they are going to enforce long pants then they must enforce sleeves. In the pits it always seems like forearm injuries are more common.

Long sleeves are a big no-no when working with machinery. If your arm brushes up against a moving chain (which it shouldn't because your hands should not be in the robot while it is on), the chain might scratch you a bit. But a sleeve can get caught in the chain, and pull your arm (and the rest of you) in.

That sounds bad enough, but think about doing that on an engine lathe

[dtengineering]

It would seem that as far as "safety" is concerned, the weight of the fabric is likely more important than the length of the fabric.

There are many "pants" that although they cover your skin to your ankles offer essentially no protection because of their light weight cloth.

Then there are shorts made of sturdy denim that offer a reasonable amount of protection against nicks, abrasion and minor cuts all the way down to your knees...

Jason

[gabrielau23]

In general if you're working in the pit, I would say wear jeans. This is especially true if you have machine tools in the pits, i.e., band saws, drill press, or belt sanders. But if you're on drive team or just in the stands, I would say go for it, although it would unfortunate if something flying hit your legs while walking through the pit area.

[FrankJ]

With all this flying debris in the pits, maybe we should add hard hats as well.


Our team has a no shorts at competition rule, but I don't really see is as a safety issue. In terms of our pit crew, they should already know the clothing that is safe/unsafe in the pits. The rule there is don't do it. I don't argue with them about what is on the list at any given moment.

[jwfoss]

I have worn shorts at competitions for as long as I can remember, both as a mentor and a volunteer.

Perhaps I am in the minority on this but I always get really warm at regionals even though almost all the events I go to are in the winter months in NE.

[treffk]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

With all this flying debris in the pits, maybe we should add hard hats as well.

With the frisbees this year I invested in a purple hard hat which is the team I mentor's color. I wore it all competition, with the exception of when one of my students traded me his Stetson for it, even though it did not match my red RPC shirt.