PR Question

[Amy33Amy33]

This is what our pit looked like up in Duluth. It's a pretty average pit. We had shelves with our display out front, generally you want enough workspace for your people to work on the robot, a banner so that teams know who you are, some storage space and a display of some sort for buttons and judges.

[221Sarahborg]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

Oh, right! ABSOLUTELY!! However, don't bother keeping spare safety glasses in the pit - people won't be able to get to the pit without safety glasses. Until this year, we've always made a point of keeping safety glasses in our "outside the pits" station somewhere in the stands or the outer lobby of our venue. This year, we're going to buy an individual pair of safety glasses for everyone on the team who does not need vision correction, with a team logo. (My pic is about 8 years old; I do wear glasses now.)

We just bring a few of our extra pairs to keep in the pit so if someone does forget them, they can start out with grabbing some from the stations with pairs sitting out to grab so they can come to the pits, grab a pair of ours, and return the ones they just borrowed so that allows one more guest to be able to enter the pits since our regionals usually run low and always need to make sure people are wearing some if they have them.

[Tuba4]

Originally Posted by Captain_Kirch

Expect a 10'x10' square and a table in the back (usually 8' long).

Don't forget that is 10x10x10 HIGH. There is a height restriction of 10', although it may or may not be strictly enforced.

[dradel]

The district format that we have here in New England there is no set pit size from event to event. One last year was 9'x9' and one was 10'x8'

[Jaql]

Apologies for kinda necro-ing this thread, but GeeToo brought up a bunch of great points. Also important to have in the pit is space for everyone to move around. Our team has come up with a system of wristbands of some sort to be allowed into our pit area to limit the number of people inside at once. In a perfect world, only the people who need access to the pit will visit but alas, it's not really the case.

In terms of safety equipment, think about displaying a safety board with incident reporting forms and other safety procedures where judges can easily see it. Along with this, have a comprehensive first aid kit (think Boy Scout comprehensive. go above and beyond!) and a spill kit on hand.

Another important thing- be creative! Your pit should be both functional but also have your own flair on it. Include decorations and unique elements in your pit. Our team is planning on bringing a repurposed C&C mill computer to use with our 3D printers. We're allowing any teams that need a custom part to be made quickly to design and print them in our pit!

And always remember to have fun with it. Competitions are some of the most amazing experiences in FIRST after all the bonding you do for the 6 weeks of build. You made it this far- now you get to enjoy it!