Pit Structure Ideas.

[Underdog_19]

Originally Posted by Skywalkar

Once upon a time, 862 used to run a full canopy of painted PVC with fabric panels (attachment 1). We eventually decided that this was a bad idea for several reasons:

• Tacky / unprofessional
• Not very durable
  (mostly the paint, but also the fabric panels due to their construction)
• Unsafe
  (blocks too much light)
• Intolerant of variable pit dimensions
• More trouble than it's worth

We then spent a few years trying out other combinations in varying degrees of minimalism, before we finally got our Marketing team in solid enough shape to put together a comprehensive pit redesign. Today, we run an L-shaped pit (attachment 2):

• Banner, storage shelving, & work bench on back wall
• Floor tiles
  (nonslip surface, high contrast for locating dropped items, and looks awesome to boot!)
• Shelves, battery cart, & support structure (for year-specific displays) on left wall
• Front edge of left wall provides mount for TV display & bins for buttons, etc
• All rolling shelves are made of wood
  (we have panels that slide across the front, locking the shelves closed for transport)
• All superstructure is made from Bosch EcoShape aluminum tubing
  (way lighter than traditional T-slot extrusion, but just as versatile!)

Where did you get your floor tiles? They look more heavy duty than your typical foam floor tiles.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by Underdog_19

Where did you get your floor tiles? They look more heavy duty than your typical foam floor tiles.

They look like rubber floor tiles to me.

[Libby K]

When it comes to inconsistent pit sizing, 1923 had our truss made 9x9x10. We've had the occaisonal 8-foot-on-one-side pit, but it's rare, and our neighbors have never minded sharing the corner of the structure in an overlap, as long as our tables and stuff are inside our space. When we do get a 10x10 space, we just push our tables & carts a little bit outside of the truss on the sides and back, and have the extra foot of room for displays and chatting out front. I'd highly recommend sizing something like a truss slightly down so you don't have to squeeze it in or abandon it at some venues.

I'll try and find the truss vendor for you (don't remember it offhand), but it was definitely over $1000. What I do highly recommend for the pit in a budget range for any team is an Insta-Bench. Foldable when you need space, absolutely vital when there's a field delay or you just want to hang out for a little bit.

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

I could never understand why in an already-dark arena, there's always a couple teams who elect to put a shade canopy over their pit area.

We have a 10x10 pop-up canopy we use as an outdoor pit for demos at fairs and such. We leave the canvas off for indoor use; we can still hang lightweight items such as lights and sponsor banners from it. We always keep some paracord handy, so if we had to constrain it to 9'x9' or even 8'x8', we could do so easily. You can see it above Perry and Oscar in this photo I took at CMP. I'm not recommending this for Sperkowsky, but anyone who wants to spend under two hundred dollars to be able to hang banners and lights and sees this thread could find it useful.

[AdamHeard]

I'd caution against making an enclosed pit that looks super fancy if you don't also put equal (or more) emphasis on the functionality of the pit.

[KeeganP]

Originally Posted by JB987

Nice alternative to many of the other pits out there. Is the 1" conduit you reference from Lowes actually 1 3/16" OD that the Tarps.com website says is needed?

I honestly don't remember. Our coach ordered the fittings from Tarps.com, and then once they came in I believe he took one in to Lowes and tested the fit himself before buying the right size pipe then. Cost from Tarps.com was cheap, and delivery was fast.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

I'd caution against making an enclosed pit that looks super fancy if you don't also put equal (or more) emphasis on the functionality of the pit.

I second this.

Looks are important but, throughout the design process I am thinking about functionality.

We have what we want pretty much designed at this point.

We will be using a frame design similar to Blackbirdsingin's design just shorter with more graphics. Basically 1x1 aluminum tubing with Esto connectors. It will be an L-Shaped inside with the entire Left side clear.

On the right front side we will be hanging a mesh side banner that covers the full side (3ft tall 7 ft tall). Then the right side will house our tool cart, Electrical cart, and two ikea shelves.

Carts x2 - http://tinyurl.com/p5rj9gk

Close Shelf - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19829090/

Far Shelf - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S69829083/

It is about 2 inches over 10ft but we care cutting down the handles on the carts and attaching new shorter ones. We are also going to attach tabletops to the cart tops.

The far shelf is meant to be partially obstructed so we can put coats,bags, and food (One the venues does not allow food to be brought in due to a dining company contract). The rest of the far shelf will hold power tools, extra robot parts, and misc storage.

The front shelf will hold awards, giveaways, and safety supplies. Both shelves will also be filled with parts. We usually bring a lot of parts with us to competitions to loan. This year we are even going to have a dedicated person listening to Pit-admin announcements and checking out parts to other teams who need them.

The back of the pit will house our charging cart, and rolling table which has storage underneath. The storage underneath will have our mini drill press which is light enough to pick up and put on the table if needed, and our full sized shop vac (No tool has been used by more teams then our shop vac).

That gives us a 7x7 block of free space in the front left corner. In the center of that will be our new scissor lift robot cart the technology director is buying us.

We will be using a foam floor we bought last year unless we feel the need to upgrade to rubber.

Going back to graphics the front will also have a 3x10 top mesh banner. The sides of the pit will have a 10x10 mesh banners and the back will be a solid piece of vinyl with our logo on it.
Every piece of mesh or vinyl will have logos, and sponsors all over it.

If anyone is wondering what I mean by mesh side banners check out 1884's pit. https://www.instagram.com/p/zKmBbwDPzo/
Instead of having open sides we will have 2 panels of something like what they put in the back, and the back will also be similar except it wont be mesh. The front will look about the same except the side banner will go all the way down. One pet peeve of mine with their pit was that the back graphic got covered up by their tables so our graphic will start higher.

Oh, yea we will also be painting the 1x1 and connectors navy blue.

[*Rachelle*]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

If anyone is wondering what I mean by mesh side banners check out 1884's pit. https://www.instagram.com/p/zKmBbwDPzo/
Instead of having open sides we will have 2 panels of something like what they put in the back, and the back will also be similar except it wont be mesh. The front will look about the same except the side banner will go all the way down. One pet peeve of mine with their pit was that the back graphic got covered up by their tables so our graphic will start higher.

Where are you getting your mesh banners from and how much are they? We have been using vinyl from buildasign, I just wanted to check out some other options.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by *Rachelle*

Where are you getting your mesh banners from and how much are they? We have been using vinyl from buildasign, I just wanted to check out some other options.

The 10x10 ones are $290 from esign. Compared to a normal 10x10 banner which costs on average over $100 less.

The other mesh banners (normal sized ones) were like $75.

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by KeeganP

I honestly don't remember. Our coach ordered the fittings from Tarps.com, and then once they came in I believe he took one in to Lowes and tested the fit himself before buying the right size pipe then. Cost from Tarps.com was cheap, and delivery was fast.

EMT conduit comes in pretty standard sizes so I'm guessing yes.

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Close Shelf - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19829090/

Far Shelf - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S69829083/

Have you purchased these shelves already? I just caution that they're a little bit finicky to assemble because of all the little plastic "split collar" pieces. If you haven't already, try it out to make sure you're happy with the time it takes to assemble/disassemble, and make sure you don't lose any of the pieces

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by GreyingJay

Have you purchased these shelves already? I just caution that they're a little bit finicky to assemble because of all the little plastic "split collar" pieces. If you haven't already, try it out to make sure you're happy with the time it takes to assemble/disassemble, and make sure you don't lose any of the pieces

We have not bought them yet, but we don't plan on taking them apart.

On a total different note the director of technology offered to pay for the shelves along with a nice new pit floor.

http://www.greatmats.com/tiles/garag...olors-ever.php

we are getting the white tiles to compliment our Navy/White Color scheme. It should also make finding stuff on the floor very easy.

[Eagleeyedan]

A few years ago my former team made a 3D panorama of our pit. It's served us well over the last 10 years. Really easy to stay organized in it. We've also added a battery cart and foam flooring now since the panorama was made as well as a few organizational adjustments. https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid...a-f9f8988c4782

[marshall]

We have enough students this year that we'll be trying for a human pyramid pit structure. We're testing it out now and the only issue is that the zebra stripes cause all of the students to blend in with one another.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by marshall

We have enough students this year that we'll be trying for a human pyramid pit structure. We're testing it out now and the only issue is that the zebra stripes cause all of the students to blend in with one another.

Forget superstructures have you found someone volunteering to be the robot cart? what about battery charging station?

[mman1506]

1334 has a sturdy pit structure made out of telescoping tubing so it can fit in a smaller space if need be.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2657