pic: NJ Regional - The Pits

[CVassos]

Wow, when my team painted that crate we had no idea it was gonna stand out that much, oh well, it made it REALLY easy to find this morning. Sadly, the crate is not solvable.

[JaneYoung]

Where is the pit area in relationship to the field? In other words how is everything set up? It looks great.

[waialua359]

the pit area is on one side of the arena (as shown) and the field is on the other (left of picture) separated by a curtain.
If you look closely, teams also have pit areas on the outskirts in a semicircle compared to most of the teams placed in rows. I guess so everyone could fit.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by waialua359

the pit area is on one side of the arena (as shown) and the field is on the other (left of picture) separated by a curtain.
If you look closely, teams also have pit areas on the outskirts in a semicircle compared to most of the teams placed in rows. I guess so everyone could fit.

So the robots queue on either side of the curtain?

[waialua359]

The robot queue similar to that of other regionals on one side (top of pic).
Last year, our pit area was the closest to the other end on the bottom of pic. Very little traffic from robots leaving the field only and we had a lot of space since no robot pit was next to us.
I can tell that the pic is early on, because there is a lot of items at the pit area desk and I hardly see any robot crates in the semicircle area. The only disadvantage for those teams is that they have to go all the way to the back center of the semicircle area and then come all the way back to enter the field.

[JaneYoung]

I haven't seen a regional set up like this. I know, hard to believe.

Lone Star has been in the Reliant Center and has its own space for the pits. This year will be different in a different location. I don't know what that layout will be.

I saw the Florida Regional last year and they had one outside pit and one inside pit that was behind the curtain, so the access to the field for that regional was interesting. That will be changed this year for them in their new digs.

It seems a simple thing for most who are used to this layout but I would like to see the flow of coming and going with the robots to see how it works. I envision traffic cops I guess.

[Elgin Clock]

NJ, Boston, Hartford, Chesapeake (possibly more), all use this divided line (curtain) pit/field relation setup.

The bad thing with NJ (& Boston as well to a less of an extreme) is that there is absolutely no room (maybe one single file lane if that) for people to move between the pit and the stands, so the stands become a walkway.

In Hartford & Chesapeake, there is plenty of room, so robots and people can concurrently move in the "lanes" back and forth between the pits at the same time.

The arena in NJ is in is so small (hockey arena) that it is a pain to get used to, but it's worked (well?) in the past 4 years I've gone there.
Kind of.

As far as Traffic cops, in Boston, NJ & Hartford it was imperative they be there to keep robot/people flow under control.
In Chesapeake, there was a lot of room to flex, so they are there but it's an easy job most of the times (IMO).

[JaneYoung]

At Lone Star, on Fridays, students from different schools come to visit. They have been invited to walk through the pit area and visit with teams/observe. In a set-up like this, it seems it would be difficult because of the tight space and accessibility. It's not a bad thing, it is just something I haven't seen. All the regionals are different, that is what is so cool about them. The same only different.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

At Lone Star, on Fridays, students from different schools come to visit. They have been invited to walk through the pit area and visit with teams/observe. In a set-up like this, it seems it would be difficult because of the tight space and accessibility. It's not a bad thing, it is just something I haven't seen. All the regionals are different, that is what is so cool about them. The same only different.

that is interesting because all the regionals we ever attended looked like this give or take the size only. I guess we have to go to Lone Star next year to experience the configuration.

[JaneYoung]

I think next year we'll back at the Reliant Center.

I think you would like the regional and the set-up. As far as I know, we don't have a crate that looks like a
Rubik's cube but the blue bonnets are usually out. They might could make up for that. Oh, and then there's the competition. <grin>

[EricH]

Originally Posted by waialua359

that is interesting because all the regionals we ever attended looked like this give or take the size only. I guess we have to go to Lone Star next year to experience the configuration.

Yeah...L.A. (both venues), Arizona, San Diego (cramped--hockey rink), SVR (nowadays...I remember the blimp hanger), and Sacramento all use this setup. The only difference is in size of pit area/arrangement of stands access.

[Lea103]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

NJ, Boston, Hartford, Chesapeake (possibly more), all use this divided line (curtain) pit/field relation setup.

The arena in NJ is in is so small (hockey arena) that it is a pain to get used to, but it's worked (well?) in the past 4 years I've gone there.
Kind of.
(IMO).

Having been part of the pit set up for two years, NJ feels pretty roomie compared to the Philadelphia Regional, which also uses a curtain to divide the pits from the playing field. We had more room to store and I guess just move around in NJ. In Philly there was no wiggle room at all, each team was using every inch of their pit. Correct me if Im wrong, but I think the pits were smaller at Philly last year than the standard 10x10x10.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Lea103

Having been part of the pit set up for two years, NJ feels pretty roomie compared to the Philadelphia Regional, which also uses a curtain to divide the pits from the playing field. We had more room to store and I guess just move around in NJ. In Philly there was no wiggle room at all, each team was using every inch of their pit. Correct me if Im wrong, but I think the pits were smaller at Philly last year than the standard 10x10x10.

Oh don't tell me that! lol I'm going to Philly this year with my team, and I think NJ is cramped!!!
I can only imagine what Philly will be like now..

[Betty_Krocker]

Yeah at the VCU regional last year we had almost 70 teams and we were the lucking ones, we got a pit on the corner of the main aisle and the main walkway, so our team could overflow into the main walkway, of course this year VCU has more teams, and i dont think we are going to be that lucky.....oh and out team size has doubled....so i too am concred about space....

any tips on how to save space in the pits?

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Betty_Krocker

Yeah at the VCU regional last year we had almost 70 teams and we were the lucking ones, we got a pit on the corner of the main aisle and the main walkway, so our team could overflow into the main walkway, of course this year VCU has more teams, and i dont think we are going to be that lucky.....oh and out team size has doubled....so i too am concred about space....

any tips on how to save space in the pits?

Reduce the amount of people in there as much as you can!
if they aren't on mechanical or electrical teams, kick them out. (with as much GP as you can of course!). lol
That seems like a harsh approach, but this is the same reason garages have a waiting room when your car is being worked on for you to chill in.
The pits are mostly meant for mechanical or electrical team members to fix the robot between rounds.
Most venues have open areas to socialize and visit with people on other teams if you choose to.

The cutting of the official team socials in most regionals hinder this theory of not having enough time to see people you want to see during the regional, and "getting in the way" in the pits, but that's just how it is nowadays.

Bottom line, if you're not mechanical, or electrical, you should be scouting in the stands, or doing other work for your team outside your 10x10 pit area. (And, no that doesn't mean standing in the aisles in front of your pit!)

Stick with that plan, and actually enforce it, and you should be good most of the time.