Petition to end the shouting of ROBOT

[arizonafoxx]

I had a team yell robot at my back. The first time I admit that I did not respond to it. Probably because I am so immune from hearing it all day and did not think it was directed at me. The second time they screamed ROBOT!!. I turned around and politely told them screaming robot at the back of my head does not indicate which direction you would like me to move. Which is completely true. I could have easily heard that scream and moved right into the path of the robot just as easily as I could have moved out of the way again not knowing fully if it was directed at me or not. I guess I should state that this happened around the practice field area, not in the aisle of the pits. The polite thing to do is have someone out in front of the robot saying excuse us robot coming on your right/left. If they don't hear you lightly touching their arm or back and say it again.

[JABot67]

Comparison between places I've competed:

Michigan:

When I started in 2007, yelling "ROBOT" was common. Now, not so much. There is plenty of space in the aisles between the pits for drive teams to move their robots, and usually a simple "excuse us" is enough to get people out of the way.

PNW:

Navigating the pits at PNW district events can be crazy sometimes. At any point in time during a competition, there seem to be quite a few team members standing outside many teams' pits. If you are trying to queue for a match quickly, there will be plenty of people in the way. Yelling "ROBOT" is extremely common, to the point of being expected.

If I say something like "excuse me" as I'm trying to get through a crowd, the crowd's members will actually start yelling "ROBOT" for me.

I do think it's super weird.

Worlds:

There is usually ample space between the pits, and there are marked out lanes for robot traffic. Yelling "ROBOT" is unnecessary and rare.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by JABot67

PNW:

Navigating the pits at PNW district events can be crazy sometimes. At any point in time during a competition, there seem to be quite a few team members standing outside many teams' pits. If you are trying to queue for a match quickly, there will be plenty of people in the way. Yelling "ROBOT" is extremely common, to the point of being expected.

Wouldn't it be more helpful to keep the pit area less cluttered with unnecessary team members standing around? I'm also not sure how crying "ROBOT" will help in such a crowded situation. How are people going to know which way to move unless someone is walking in front of the robot to help clear a path, and why wouldn't that path-clearing be just as effective with targeted requests to make room instead of a general broadcast that a robot is somewhere nearby?

[teslalab2]

I vote YES!!! I would always yell excuse me, coming through, because yelling robot just didn't sit right with me. I got yelled at by judges for saying excuse me..........

[RNRice2]

Saying "Robot" has been something I have done throughout my time in FRC. And this year, already, I have had to pull/push my team's cart around and people refused to get out of the way. If anything, in my opinion, experienced members need to enlighten incoming FIRST members that "Robot" generally means to clear a path for robots.

[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by RNRice2

Saying "Robot" has been something I have done throughout my time in FRC. And this year, already, I have had to pull/push my team's cart around and people refused to get out of the way. If anything, in my opinion, experienced members need to enlighten incoming FIRST members that "Robot" generally means to clear a path for robots.

Saying excuse me works just as well, and for those in the pits who aren't familiar with the subtle nuances of a competition it doesn't actually help.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by RNRice2

Saying "Robot" has been something I have done throughout my time in FRC. And this year, already, I have had to pull/push my team's cart around and people refused to get out of the way. If anything, in my opinion, experienced members need to enlighten incoming FIRST members that "Robot" generally means to clear a path for robots.

No, "Excuse me" generally means to clear a path. "ROBOT" generally means whoever is screaming it at you is a bit of a jerk.

Update: I don't recall hearing any safety judges telling teams to do it last year.

[The Swaggy P]

Yeah, I would agree that shouting "ROBOT!" is annoying, but then again, I have been told by FRC Safety Advisors to yell it in previous years.

So until FIRST officially removes this requirement, and doesn't base a safety award off of it, I'll probably keep yelling it when the robot's moving around....

[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by The Swaggy P

Yeah, I would agree that shouting "ROBOT!" is annoying, but then again, I have been told by FRC Safety Advisors to yell it in previous years.

So until FIRST officially removes this requirement, and doesn't base a safety award off of it, I'll probably keep yelling it when the robot's moving around....

Previous years rules don't always roll over. If you can cite somewhere in the manual where it says you should yell robot then by all means follow the rules.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by The Swaggy P

Yeah, I would agree that shouting "ROBOT!" is annoying, but then again, I have been told by FRC Safety Advisors to yell it in previous years.

So until FIRST officially removes this requirement, and doesn't base a safety award off of it, I'll probably keep yelling it when the robot's moving around....

I have never seen this as a rule in any FRC manual.

It's important to be able to quickly and easily clear a path for large objects moving through a crowd. That's why things like airport carts (the ones with a couple of benches for elderly or disabled people to get a lift to their gate) have both buzzers and lights. But those drivers still do their best not to run people over!

The biggest problem I have with people yelling "ROBOT" while moving through the pits is many of them seem to think it gives them the right to just plow through. I have been hit by multiple robot carts at just about every event I've attended, and scolded quite a few teams about it.

Be polite, be cognizant of the fact that people won't just jump out of your way, and above all be patient!

[EricH]

Originally Posted by The Swaggy P

Yeah, I would agree that shouting "ROBOT!" is annoying, but then again, I have been told by FRC Safety Advisors to yell it in previous years.

So until FIRST officially removes this requirement, and doesn't base a safety award off of it, I'll probably keep yelling it when the robot's moving around....

It is not a requirement. And the Safety Award is not based on it. You can stop yelling it.

Heard it a few times, usually from teams that I figure didn't know better. If it wasn't right next to me, I didn't change direction or speed. (And most of the ones right next to me were "excuse us, robot moving" or something like that.)

[hkuperstein]

Yelling "Robot" or something similar was definitely needed at our events this year. While we always said "Excuse us" in addition, usually it was parents talking to teams who weren't aware and needed us to get their attention. If the first time didn't work, we'd tap their shoulder and kindly ask them to make way for us. Our robot needed constant repair at both our districts so time was certainly of the essence... if we weren't in such a rush I'm sure we would have been a bit more patient.

[GreyingJay]

So I can yell "ROBOT!" when the autonomous code goes awry and the robot goes shooting across the aisle into our neighbor's pit, right?

[Type]

My team didn't yell robot, we said excuse me every once in awhile but our pit was right on the end, next to the ques so we didn't travel that far. Due to the way our robot sits on our cart, you can't see in front of you so we usually have one to two people walking along the side of the robot to lead where you are going and help move people out of the way, kinda escort the robot.

[Wayne Doenges]

Originally Posted by JABot67

Worlds:

There is usually ample space between the pits, and there are marked out lanes for robot traffic. Yelling "ROBOT" is unnecessary and rare.

Last year, at World's, I had a team coming out of the arena yelling ROBOT with NO ONE in front of them for at least 50 feet.