Two Story Pit Area?

[Kyle Love]

Originally Posted by Sean Schuff

How about at IRI where the FIRST rules are a little more, well, flexible!

but remember, the pits are almost half the size, wait a minute.....even more of a challenge!

[Mr. Freeman]

Originally Posted by SamS0Fa33O

Why not just find a place at a regional where thier is a 2 story bulding? Then just have spots reserved for teams on both stories.... seems like that is a safe plan!

The only problem with that is that you'll have about 5 teams all trying to use the freight elevator at the same time because they're all late for a match.

I think the 4 story pit is a really good idea (safety concerns, logistics, rules, feasibility, and cost aside of course). Anyone hear of the "elevator" they're attempting to make to the moon? Just use one of those. 5000 story pit area!

[dubious elise]

Aha, I completely misread your initial post, David!

I thought that you were referring to a massive, pit-area-wide structure that would have multiple floors to accomodate extra teams and work/practice/shop spaces (I think I mentally deleted the 10x10 blurb). This, in and of itself, would be very cool and might allow venues with relatively cramped pit spaces to open up a bit and allow the full 10x10 footprint dimensions, if not more. Obviously, the overall height of the arena and the lighting of each space would be issues to tango with.

As for individual pits, I'd be worried about either having kids fall out of the upper levels or, if you have workspace on the upper level(s), having materials/sparks/nuts and bolts either fall through the floor or hit passers-by. We might have to start telling kids to keep their saftey glasses over their eyes on the field and on their foreheads in the pits.

[Qbranch]

Originally Posted by Kyle Love

We thought about making a second story lounge and an area for the pit crew to take a load off of their feet. But, the sheer logistics of easily being able to set it up are mind boggling and well, it wouldn't be worth it. Plus, its not legal. But hey, we all can dream of a lounge area....

you have time to lounge?!

[pez1959]

I think if a team were to have this multi story pit it would cause one big problem. The problem simply being that if there was a multi level pit, no work would get done in my one table toolbox pit. We'd all be over there trying to get past the bouncer into yer lounge, which would then result in us taking a crate into our first match :-p

[Sharkbyte]

Originally Posted by Qbranch

OSHA Say:

1910.23(e)(3)(iv)

The anchoring of posts and framing of members for railings of all types shall be of such construction that the completed structure shall be capable of withstanding a load of at least 200 pounds applied in any direction at any point on the top rail.

1910.28(a)(4)

Scaffolds and their components shall be capable of supporting without failure at least four times the maximum intended load.

1910.28(a)(20)

Tools, materials, and debris shall not be allowed to accumulate in quantities to cause a hazard.

1910.28(e)(5)

Where there is danger of material falling from the scaffold, a wire mesh or other enclosure shall be provided between the guardrail and the toeboard.

Just after reading 1910.28(a)(20), my team already fails OSHA standards.

Though this only occurs during those quick-take-the-robot-apart-and-rebuild-the-entire-inside-because-we-have-a-match-in-five-minutes build periods.

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Kyle Love

We thought about making a second story lounge and an area for the pit crew to take a load off of their feet. But, the sheer logistics of easily being able to set it up are mind boggling and well, it wouldn't be worth it. Plus, its not legal. But hey, we all can dream of a lounge area....

You can dream about this, but won't ever do it. Kyle failed to mention the part when his team mentors said "no way".

A 2-story pit at a FIRST event is a safety hazard. It will cause more negative attention from facility administrators, insurance lawyers and safety personnel not familiar with FIRST. We don't need more of these people nosing around the pits.

This is NOT a good idea. Please, people, don't try to develop 2 story pits or push FIRST to allow them. The attention we will get won't be good.

Andy B.

[Dom Ruggieri]

Yo i say screw it man and just build it for the off season just for the heck of it. That would be so much fun to do. Heck i would be more then glad to help.

[Rick TYler]

These sorts of things are common in the trade show world, although not usually in sizes that small. I should warn you, though, that the last time I designed a trade show exhibit our 20x20 booth (only one story) cost more than $50,000, and we rented most of it.

[Freddy Schurr]

Yeah, I would like to see pictures from a two story pit area?

[LightWaves1636]

Originally Posted by anna~marie

I think I would be super confused... you could loose people and scouting would be, well, odd

I agree, and with our team, it sounds a bit too unorganized and crowded considering the problem we had this year with people on our team not realizing we have limited space and so we have a designated pit crew and the "non-crew" members ignored it and just came in and got in the way and slowed down our repairing.

[Gabe]

Is a multi-story pit area limited by the 10 foot high ceiling limit that FIRST has? Or can you have a 6'8" tall ceiling (height of a standard interior doorway), 4 inches of load-supporting surface, and then 3 feet for exhausted programmers to sleep on. You would have a ladder to climb up, and meybe a mattress to rest on. If this is a bit confusing, imagine being on a rooftop that is 6'8" from the ground.

[sanddrag]

If we got a team of really short people, maybe we could have a true two story pit area.

Well, let's face it, it will never happen, but if it did happen, and you could have, oh, say 5 stories, what would they be?

I would probably have
1. Robot repair shop and storage (heavy stuff down there)
2. Public Relations
3. Programming and Testing
4. Team Lounge
5. The Club, with dancing and lights and fog and stuff.

[Gabe]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

If we got a team of really short people, maybe we could have a true two story pit area.

Well, let's face it, it will never happen, but if it did happen, and you could have, oh, say 5 stories, what would they be?

For 5 stories,
1. Robot repair and storage (heavier stuff down here)
2. Bags, backpacks, spare parts storage
3. Programming and testing (cooler full of soda and a tray of warm cookies at all times)
4. Scouting level (laptop, scouting sheets, and several pairs of binoculars)
5. Resting (mattresses and pillows for tired team members)

[Freddy Schurr]

5. Resting (mattresses and pillows for tired team members)

That is why you sit in the stands for the matches.