Number of people in the pits at CMP

[ToddF]

Originally Posted by TimTheGreat

I know there aren't rules but do any teams create a designated pit crew in order to keep clutter down?

Absolutely! We have been refining our pit crew makeup for years. Here is how we try to do it:

Student Mechanical Lead: Responsible for making mechanical repairs. Responsible for changing bumpers and other mechanical items on the pit checklist.
Student Electrical Lead: Responsible for making electrical repairs and troubleshooting. Responsible for changing batteries. Tracks battery performance over time using our battery logging/tracking system.
Student Programming Lead: Tweaks autonomous code in response to on-field performance. Operates robot during function checks as the last step in the pit checklist.
Student Pit Lead: One of the previous three students is designated the pit lead. This is the single person responsible that the robot is competition ready when it leaves the pit. When the robot returns to the pit, this is the person who takes a condition report from the drive team and makes sure any problems are addressed between matches. They also are responsible for insuring all the steps in the pit checklist are completed.
Student ambassador: Arguably the most important job on the pit crew. Interfaces with the public, judges, other team's scouts, etc. Allows the other pit crew members to do their jobs without being distracted.
Pit mentor: Supervises student leads. Steps in to help when necessary. Can call in other students and mentors to help troubleshoot when necessary. Sometimes helps establish priorities when multiple complex repairs are necessary.
Safety captain: Keeps an eye on the pit to make sure everyone is working safely.

This is our official pit crew, who are expected to be in or near the pit between matches. No one else should be in the pit unless invited by the Student Pit Lead or the Pit Mentor. Sometimes this list is augmented due to special circumstances. For example, this year our intake extended outside the robot, and was vulnerable to taking damage when rammed into things. We planned ahead and made a spare intake which was swappable. The mentor and student (who happened to be the safety captain) who worked the most on the intake were kept busy in the pit maintaining the spare intake so it could be ready to swap back onto the robot.

We generally choose a quiet area within sight of our pit for the drive team, and other students/mentors to hang out between matches. After the robot is dropped off in the pit, the drive team reviews video of the match with the Drive Team Coach to take lessons learned from what went right or wrong. This is where the runner from the scouting team delivers intel on our upcoming alliance partners and opponents. When it's queuing time, the drive team goes to the pit to pick up the robot.