Petition to end the shouting of ROBOT

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

The fact that at most regionals I've been to, essentially all communication can be reasonably called "shouting" because the ambient noise is loud enough to cause hearing loss, for starters.

The point is, only the people in your way need to be asked to move. Shouting at the top of your lungs so everybody around you is unnecessary. Asking the people in front of you to move is all that is needed. There is a difference between talking loud enough for someone to hear you in a loud venue, and shouting.

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

Shouting at the top of your lungs so everybody around you is unnecessary. Asking the people in front of you to move is all that is needed. There is a difference between talking loud enough for someone to hear you in a loud venue, and shouting.

This is true. It is also not immediately apparent that this is the actual problem that the thread is about, nor does it help that it's completely mixed up with a load of pedantry about what words are best to inform the people in front of you that they ought to move.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

A thread outlining those practices which are actually rude/unnecessary/disruptive would be much better at raising awareness then a thread about something tangentially related with which a whole load of other things are being conflated.

I don't think anyone here gets all that upset if a person pulling a robot cart uses the word "robot" instead of "excuse me," all other things being equal. If they do, I'd say that's a personal problem.

I'd say there are a lot of people here that find people yelling "robot!" to be obnoxious and rude, myself included. To me it's no different than someone yelling "move!" or "get out of the way!".

Unless there is a deadly accident about to occur where syllables matter, yelling "robot!" or "move!" creates the appearance that the person yelling it is viewing themselves as being more important than everyone else around them, rather than as equals.

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

Unless there is a deadly accident about to occur where syllables matter, yelling "robot!" or "move!" creates the appearance that the person yelling it is viewing themselves as being more important than everyone else around them, rather than as equals.

I certainly don't find this to be the case, and at any rate if this is a problem it is a problem on a scale several orders of magnitude smaller than the very real problem of people being unreasonable/unsafe while pushing their robots around.

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

The fact that at most regionals I've been to, essentially all communication can be reasonably called "shouting" because the ambient noise is loud enough to cause hearing loss, for starters (FIRST really belies all of their "safety" preaching with this, it drives me crazy).

I'm continuously amazed at the volume people manage to get to when screaming ROBOT!!!, above and beyond the ambience of the pits.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

I certainly don't find this to be the case, and at any rate if this is a problem it is a problem on a scale several orders of magnitude smaller than the very real problem of people being unreasonable/unsafe while pushing their robots around.

It seems to me that an individual that is not abrasively yelling while moving their robot through a space is probably more likely to be both more reasonable and more safe about how they move around. An individual that's yelling robot probably assumes that some privilege re: movement / presence is conferred to them and they behave accordingly.

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

It raises awareness.

Can we make tshirts?
Collect signatures?

Ooo Ooo, who has a button maker?

....I love this thread.

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by Gregor

I'm continuously amazed at the volume people manage to get to when screaming ROBOT!!!, above and beyond the ambience of the pits.

This is part of a general trend of unsafe behavior in the pits that is a real problem. Last year there was a team that sent out large numbers of members screaming a "safety chant" for a majority of one of the regionals I attended, which was amazingly awful (and rather unsafe). I find it intensely ironic that a lot of the jockeying for the safety award is completely irrelevant, if not actively detrimental, to pit safety.

I do think a lot of it could be immediately mitigated by FIRST not blasting their sound system the whole time and promoting a culture of "no louder than necessary" in the pits. It shocks me how many people don't appreciate how important easy communication is to a safe work space.

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

This is part of a general trend of unsafe behavior in the pits that is a real problem. Last year there was a team that sent out large numbers of members screaming a "safety chant" for a majority of one of the regionals I attended, which was amazingly awful (and rather unsafe). I find it intensely ironic that a lot of the jockeying for the safety award is completely irrelevant, if not actively detrimental, to pit safety.

I do think a lot of it could be immediately mitigated by FIRST not blasting their sound system the whole time and promoting a culture of "no louder than necessary" in the pits. It shocks me how many people don't appreciate how important easy communication is to a safe work space.

While I won't argue, I think safety theater for the purposes of looking more attractive for the safety award is too large of scope for this thread.

[loyal]

I don't think there is anything wrong with saying robot or excuse me or heads up or look out. Pick a word it doesn't matter. If some one is in your way they should move. We all know the pits are loud and crowded and guess what there are robots coming on and off the field. If everyone would pay attention and not block the path for the robots no one would feel the need to yell "ROBOT". Politeness goes both ways.

[SenorZ]

I "think" I've commented on this thread before... but a recent event at a scrimmage made me think of this again.

Standing near the field entrance, waiting for a match to end to ask officials about a lost robot part (!), a group of three students (from a long-standing veteran team) waiting to enter the field SHOVED past me saying "Robot!" I was literally the ONLY person within a 5' radius, and there was plenty of room. I almost lost my cool, but as a teacher I remembered these are students, and this was a teachable moment.

I stopped them and said, "Next time, you should say 'Excuse me,' and not push a person to the side." They nodded and went on their way.

Who knows if this had an impact. But team captains and mentors need to enforce this sort of courtesy among their crews. At competitions I've escorted a cart with robot and drive team through a crowd with barely a word. The key is not being rushed, I suppose.

[Mr. Van]

The Robodox will not shout "Robot" (or any other word that implies that we have an inherent right of way) while moving our robots at an event. We will exercise courtesy when moving our robot, making sure that everyone is as safe as possible.

We will also graciously encourage other teams to follow our example.

- Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by BigJ

Safety Theater

I love this term. I want to see a Safety Theater Captain button.

[Conor Ryan]

I would also like to remind everyone that there is a petition that was started in 2013: http://www.change.org/petitions/firs...to-shout-robot

I think if we can get enough people to sign this petition we might be able to get it implemented in the rules next year! This thread alread has 20,500+ views! Based off of this document: http://www3.usfirst.org/aboutus/first-at-a-glance that is a significant portion of the FRC body!

[Kevco]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

Can this thread finally die? Please? It is not going anywhere, it is never going to go anywhere, and it serves no purpose other than creating enmity.

If you dissolve all of the conflations between the actual use of "Robot!" as a means to let people know they're in the way (which is perfectly fine, unless you have some sort of overbearing negative reaction to the word "robot") and the plethora of unrelated rude/disruptive behaviors described over the length of the thread, there's really not even that much to discuss. There's no point for 16 pages of debate about word choice.

No it cant or should not die, its still a problem that needs to be corrected.