Pit Crew Ideas

[7H4N4705]

Hey, I just started robotics this year and am looking for good pit ideas. So if it is not a problem for you, please be so kind as to leave either a picture or a descriptive idea for a pit or a description of your pit. Thanks for taking the time to read this post and commenting. Have a good day.

[JoshWilson]

A few things that pits generally have is some tables, a toolbox, something displaying awards, and a few chairs. Pits also generally have some sort of container out front with pins and/or other items they hand out. If you do this, which I personally recommend, make sure other people can see it if they glance into the pit. General pit structure also includes a frame (sometimes a tent), with a light inside (recommend, but optional). Also, make sure that there is room to fit and work on your robot inside, because you WILL need to

[itsjustjon]

Our team's pit is made from the 2014 truss pieces, and we hang lights from the top.

Along with that, we have team banners hanging on the back.

Here's a picture.

[Tom Ore]

Here's a render we did of our pit a couple of years ago.

[GeeTwo]

What to bring? See page 15 of chapter four of the admin manual.

Our "furniture": Steel rolling tool chest ~66" tall; homemade rolling workbench with low storage box, pegboard back, and high shelf; rolling battery box/cart; rolling wire shelf (~16"x48:x70"); rolling robot cart. We pick a layout based on the size and shape of the robot. Last year we also brought a (non-rolling!) 10'x10' "popup pavilion" frame (without the canvas) and some string lights. Hang sponsor board, banners and signs from the pavilion and on the storage units. Very quick to set up and get working! We tweaked the layout at Bayou last year as we were on a corner; no sweat. Our second and third years we did PVC frame walls that were a waste of time, both in the shop and during setup. Perhaps even more than the robot, KISS!

[JoshWilson]

Originally Posted by itsjustjon

Our team's pit is made from the 2014 truss pieces, and we hang lights from the top.

Along with that, we have team banners hanging on the back.

Here's a picture.

That is one sweet pit. I now envy your team.

[*Rachelle*]

http://i.imgur.com/hqo4Vs0.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5htMcIT.jpg

Here are two angles of our 2015 pit, the pegboard was painted a matching green for the next competition. This year the safety board is being revised a bit and we will be utilizing the back pegboard more. The tool boxes have light strips inside them. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. We made the front desks ourselves and they have wire shelves on the side you can't see.

[maxnz]

Originally Posted by JoshWilson

That is one sweet pit. I now envy your team.

Agreed.

[Collin Stiers]

another good idea is to have some sort of large banner so that people can easily find you team from a distance, it's nice to be able to find team's pits without too much trouble

[aldaeron]

Some folks focus on very functional pits. We added some flair to ours (15 pieces?!)

[Tuba4]

Whatever you end up with remember this. The footprint of your pit setup should be no larger than 10 ft by 10 ft. And it should be no higher than 10 ft as well.

From the Administration Manual -

4.7.4.3 Space Regulations
Each team is allotted approximately the same amount of workspace at an event, usually about 10’x10’x10’. However, Pit size can vary from event to event and in many cases, the space can be smaller. In all cases, the height of a team’s Pit cannot exceed 10’ (this includes the height of signs, flags, banners, etc.).

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by JoshWilson

I think you meant to post on this thread, lol

Yes, Yes I did

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by 7H4N4705

Hey, I just started robotics this year and am looking for good pit ideas. So if it is not a problem for you, please be so kind as to leave either a picture or a descriptive idea for a pit or a description of your pit. Thanks for taking the time to read this post and commenting. Have a good day.

Ours is good. The banner stand pops off, the workbench pops off, and we can stuff it (and the rolling toolboxes beneath) under a bus or in a trailer easily. We then have some plastic shelving we use to define the front edge of the pit, mount our one (for now) blue banner, run a monitor with our sponsor crawl, and store additional things that fit in kit totes.

ROBOTZ Garage's is still the standard for me. It's not just the pieces of flair everywhere in that pit, it's that they manage to stuff everything they need behind that curtain in probably a foot and a half of depth or on their cart.