Where do YOU practice driving?

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by 1493kd

We are lucky enough to have a full sizes field to practice on in the area. However with legal issues of teachers driving students and school hours it is hard to get kids to the field during the week after school to practice ( current practice field is about 15 minutes away).

I would like to be able to set up and take down a small area of carpet and some field elements after school so our drivers can practice right at school and not have to worry about students transportation issues.

We have in the past tried to use a section of carpet on the school floor but it would just bunch up wasn't very successful. Has anyone had luck with a system that you put down and take up everyday? If so do you have any suggestions.

For the last week or so, we've been clearing a section of the school library (has tight pile carpet) and setting up a field perimeter of tape that's at least 6 feet from anything expensive. Takes about 15 minutes to set up, 15 minutes to take down. It'll work until the real field is finished..

[cjl2625]

Usually, we practice in a cluttered garage.
However, occasionally we manage to get some practice in the school gymnasium.

[devg29]

We go to our school's old gym as to not wreck the floor in the new gym, and we were also once invited to practice at an old warehouse where another team had set up

[Jon Stratis]

We have an over sized classroom (a little over half field in size) that is part of the Schools STEM Center we build out of. All the chairs and desks are on wheels and can quickly be cleared out into the hall, leaving us with more than enough room to drive around and 15' tall ceilings. There is some heavy duty diamond plate along the bottom foot of the wall, and plastic sheeting for then next 3 feet, which helps to reduce damage when we happen to hit it somewhere (the plastic was selected by the team after a fun afternoon of destructive testing of various samples of stuff).

[Grey Mann]

997 has a huge shop with everything we could ever need and a practice field roughly the size of a large communal dinner table.

Sweet Jesus. Why did you have to bring back a thread made by 2011 me?

Also, since I'm posting, I might as well answer....OP's.....original question. We (1323) practice in a room next to our shop that has about size for a 1/2 field.

Spoiler for To the OP:

Just a heads up - Try going for the middle hoop next year from the start instead of realizing too late you can't hit the top one. And don't overpower the shooter to the point where you can launch balls full field. However DO focus on your full court shooter idea in two years. It's actually worth something and you'll be able to pull it off surprisingly well if you don't abandon it too early. And if the rest of the team ever suggests giant googly eyes....just no.

[z_beeblebrox]

On a big slab of concrete by the train tracks.

[mman1506]

Last year we used a carpeted church basement to practice everyday during march break. This year were using the staff lounge, lucky for us the carpet is covered in so many coffee stains that the teachers don't notice the blue streaks that the blue nitrile leaves.

[Pratik Kunapuli]

The only carpeted area we can get our hands on is our auditorium. Every time we want to test the robot with actual game pieces or get driver practice we have to set up a practice field there and tear it down when we are done.

[prismiko]

Originally Posted by 1493kd

Do you ever have any issues with carpet bunching up on fast change of directions etc. Any weights, etc to keep it in place?

Yes we get the carpet bunching but don't have a good solution.. we have people standing at the corners & edges and have to occasionally pull the carpet back into position.

[asid61]

We have a half-field's worth of carpets that we roll out outside. We can practice inside but we only get 1/4 field that way and nothing taller than 10 feet or so.

[Abhishek R]

We kindly request our high school's orchestra director if we can use the room on the weekends. We come in, mark a field with tape and set up a few wooden elements and then test/practice for a few hours before packing up again. That gives us enough space to set up 3/4 of a full field. Once we move to the STEAM (now called the Shaw Center), we will share a permanent full field with the other teams in our district.

[GeeTwo]

We have a classroom for a build space and a small patch of parking lot behind the concession stands for practice. Since this year's challenge shouldn't involve flying objects, we may do some or all of our practice in the classroom.

[EricH]

We've got about a 10x15 carpet setup inside the shop (a former autoshop), and can move the carpet outside and add some more for about half a field. In the shop, ceilings aren't an issue, but the power cords hanging from the ceiling get in the way sometimes.

Practicing on the asphalt outside is frowned on (by the team, not the school), so we haul the carpet out and in. As far as securing it, if we're thinking about it we'll tape it down a bit; otherwise it's however it ends up being.

[bEdhEd]

We've got gym space at a local elementary school that isn't currently operating as a school at the moment, as far as I know. We basically have a half field set up there, and we will be practicing with a few local teams, mainly ones we are affiliated with through helping with their founding.