Pit work during ceremonies

[EricH]

Originally Posted by madhav

And with the rule on safety glasses. Coloured or tinted ones at LA and Vegas are a no-no. It has to do with some safety something. I never fought it.

Check the FRC Safety Manual. Certain colors are perfectly fine (as I recall, it's amber, blue, and one other, I want to say red) but anything else (like reflective) is out. Not sure why, but that's the way it is.

[madhav]

Originally Posted by EricH

Check the FRC Safety Manual.

Ain't nobody got time for that

[BBray_T1296]

The rule on tinted safety glasses is so people can see your eyes. Not entirely sure how that makes things better, but basically any kind of glasses that makes seeing your eyes very possible is OK.

[cadandcookies]

To play a little devil's advocate: where in the rules does it guarantee that you can be in the pit during ceremonies? Yes, it looks like there's a "If you're in the pits, these are the rules," but I don't see anything guaranteeing that you can be in the pit. If somebody does see something with that guarantee, it has not been posted here.

Then it would indeed be up to the regional staff to decide whether being in the pits is appropriate-- though I would agree that there aren't all that many reasons not to allow work during ceremonies. Then again, I've seen significantly more malicious "ignoring" of the rules at events than clearing the pits (though I think I've covered those grievances elsewhere).

[Bryan Herbst]

I'm in favor of getting teams out of pits for opening ceremonies.

There's a lot of recognition that happens at the opening ceremonies- frequently community leaders show up to congratulate the students and it's an opportunity to recognize the volunteers (and introduce the students to some of the important ones). Planning committees spend a lot of time and energy coordinating these, so I don't have a problem giving them a half an hour of my day to relax and enjoy the ceremony.

The ceremonies are also an excellent opportunity to excite the students and get them engaged in the competition. For new students, it makes them aware of how big the competitions can be, and introduces them to the competition format. We also all are aware how stressful practice day can be, so it's a good opportunity to step back and take in the competition for a moment.

FIRST is also trying to make competitions similar to traditional sports competitions in many respects. When was the last time you saw members of a football or hockey team working out in the back room during the opening ceremony? Sure that might be a "better" use of their time, but I doubt many players would even consider it.

I do see exceptions being made every now and then for teams that are in desperate need of that time for one reason or another (perhaps their robot caught fire or they haven't passed inspection and are in the first match), and that's fine.

On a somewhat related note, I wish there was a way to make closing ceremonies mandatory. I understand some teams have a long drive, but they should stick around to support their colleagues. Plus it's awkward when a team wins an award but has already left.

[FrankJ]

It seems they largely cleared the pits at worlds during opening ceremonies?

Peachtree we cleared the pits with the exception of teams with major inspection issues.

[EricH]

I have one suggestion. If you do have people working in your pit (quietly, of course) during ceremonies, make sure that none of them happens to be the mentor your team nominated for WFA.

It's a little tough having to "drag" said mentor out of the pit and wait for him to show up on field. Personal experience.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by EricH

I have one suggestion. If you do have people working in your pit (quietly, of course) during ceremonies, make sure that none of them happens to be the mentor your team nominated for WFA.

WFA nominees are very frequently the mentors most likely to require dragging out of the pit. Sometimes, they must be dragged out of another team's pit. This can happen any time that the pits are being closed -- whether for ceremonies or at the end of the day.

Inspired people are just like that, there is nothing you can do to stop them. Thank goodness.

[treffk]

Originally Posted by EricH

Check the FRC Safety Manual. Certain colors are perfectly fine (as I recall, it's amber, blue, and one other, I want to say red) but anything else (like reflective) is out. Not sure why, but that's the way it is.

It's clear, blue, amber and yellow that are allowed according to the manual as long as they are non-reflective. Amber is the only color I have not bought for my team. We only had colored glasses one year which is where we ran into the blue being slightly too dark and not being able to see our pupils.

[Kevin Kolodziej]

I'm all for being respectful during ceremonies. I encourage my team to attend and listen to the guest speakers and take in the "show" part of the event. BUT, as others have stated, this is a competition and the teams also want to put on the best "show" that they can as well, and that requires machines working at full capacity.

Friday morning, MOST teams should be ready to go. There may be a few stragglers for inspection, but the majority of teams got inspected on Thursday and have had ample time to get the machine up to speed for Friday morning.

My problem is with Saturday morning. Quite often events run late on Friday. Closing ceremonies start very quickly after the last match. Pits close soon after that. It is very possible to be in one of the last matches on Friday and then be in one of the first few matches on Saturday. When the pits get closed for ceremonies, a machine that requires a good bit of maintenance after a brutal day of qualifying (like we saw so often this year) is inaccessible for about an hour between the two ceremonies, or more after you consider the volunteers trying to get everyone to leave on Friday night and the congestion of getting in on Saturday morning. This leads to robots that aren't ready for Saturday, and the competition devolves into 2v3 or worse with robots limping around because there was no time to fix. No one wants to see that, and we pay good money to be able to participate, so we want to be at our best.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Everyone,
The LRI at your event knows what teams are under a crunch based on their ability to be inspected or compete in one of the early matches. Those teams are usually given the ability to stay and work to insure all teams have a full alliance when they compete.
That said, local and Champs event planners spend a great deal of time trying to get important people to opening ceremonies or to speak at these events. The desire is to get movers and shakers to recognize what we already know to be true. As such, a maximum number of participants carries more weight with these people. Also, if you took some critical time out of your day to speak at a high school robotics event, you expect that the attendees would show you some respect and listen to what you have to say. If you missed opening ceremonies at Champs, you missed a double amputee tell you about the challenges he has overcome and the upbeat outlook he has on your future. If you missed opening at Midwest, you missed listening to the Turkish national anthem sung by the students who traveled thousands of miles to attend in Chicago.