Number of People Needed at Event

[Jaine Perotti]

Like said above, this is a small core group. It should include a couple mentors, your drive team, and a few other students. I think ours generally comes out as 10 people.

Typically, our team has way less than that be a part of the pit crew. We usually end up having only about 4-5 people max in the pits, including mentors (generally its 2 mentors, and 3 students). If you have too many people in the pit, it may end up becoming way too crowded. The pits are small, and it is difficult to fit everyone in at one time. In fact, our team has a rule about this; if you are not a member of the pit crew, you are not allowed to be in our team's pit area (unless its just to have a quick word with someone).

When our team was young, our pit crew was also our drive crew and cheering section. We used to only have about 3-4 core members of the team. Now our team has burgeoned to a membership of about 20, with 3 on the pit crew, 3 on the drive crew, and the rest scouting or presenting the chairmains award. These roles tend to overlap a bit...and no one is strictly limited to one job, as long as it is practical. For example, I was the pit captain last year, but I also was one of the chairman's award presenters.

One concern that people may have over not letting very many people in the pits is that not many students get a chance to have "hands on time" with the robot. One of the things that our team is going to try this year is having two pit crews which will work in rotating shifts. That way, more people get to have "robot time", and it gives members of the pit crew a chance to relax, eat, and watch the matches.

We don't quite know how this system will work out yet, but we are hoping it will be a success.