pic: NJ Regional - The Pits

[Lea103]

Originally Posted by waialua359

oh boy, and VCU next week is our first stop.
The fact that we were in the corner in NJ was very advantageous. Hate to see us stuck in the middle like so many other teams had to.
In NJ, we got the "best" spot since we were the first team to get the rows.
All the veteran low numbered teams up to team 341, Miss Daisy, had to be in the semicircle. They had the worst spot and the longest distance to travel through traffic.

103 has always been part of the semi-circle. Having the bleachers behind us gave us a little bit of extra storage

[nlknauss]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

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..

Philly is actually pretty comfortable, you'll barely notice! Last year, the pits were a little tight but teams were still able to fit their displays and equipment. The stands get to be a little cramped but the atmosphere is awesome.

We are spoiled with room at NJ!

[Rohith Surampudi]

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/7128/img0489sy5.jpg

not the same view but theres the general idea

Left Out of this picture: outer ring teams/concrete ring teams(11-449)


ill get a panorama up eventually

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by mtaman02

loading photo ...

Originally Posted by Rohith Surampudi

ill get a panorama up eventually

I got your back Rohith:

Pics as promised:

Saturday mid-day looking at the pits:

Saturday mid-day looking at the field from the same spot:


Saturday at the end of the day looking at the pits:

Saturday at the end of the day looking at the field from the same spot:

[JaneYoung]

ok so -
questions -
in the pit area right behind the curtain is a section that stores all the field storage containers the whole weekend?

and the crates - so many stay in the pits - are they all utilized because they can be or do the crates stay in the pits the whole weekend?

[Rohith Surampudi]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

ok so -
questions -
in the pit area right behind the curtain is a section that stores all the field storage containers the whole weekend?

and the crates - so many stay in the pits - are they all utilized because they can be or do the crates stay in the pits the whole weekend?

this picture by elgin i believe was taken as teams began to pack up after not being chosen for an alliance, so numerous crates were brought back out, though some teams kept their crates as tool storage or organizational tools, the other crates are tucked away deep into the bowels of the arena as are many of the field crates. Some field crates are left out for field side storage and such.

[JaneYoung]

Thank you!

[BandChick]

Basically Jane, what you're not seeing is the "backstage" area. The concourse downstairs stores all the field crates (the far left corner of Elgin's field picture), and the right side of the downstairs concourse holds our practice field. The crates actually go back onto the truck until packing time, so we can get them out of the way.

The pits are about 10x10, and they're small, but not too cramped. Like Roho said, some teams DO keep their crates in their pits for use as tables, or hanging tools, etc. The one thing that does become hectic is the walkway between rows. There's often 10 or 12 kids in each pit, and they start to overflow out into the path. I honestly wonder about it being a fire hazard sometimes...

In the pits: Everyone is organized in numerical order, and the row that's OUTSIDE the regular hockey rink is what we call "veterans' row." That's where the older teams go, because we feel that they need less help and often have more time to travel from an inconvenient location. It's really helpful to have, however, when you want to introduce new folks to FIRST. I can basically send them down that whole row and know they'll get a great feeling for what this is all about.

The black curtain separates the field from the pit, and yes, queuing goes on either side. In from the far side (farthest away from Elgin's pic) and out from the close side. Managing traffic there is ALWAYS a battle, as there's ALSO a stairway in that outflow section.

The hardest part is walking from one side of the arena to the other. If you're in the pit, you have to go upstairs and follow the concourse around to your section of the stands. There's no thruway traffic, unless you are on a drive team, so Elgin's right, the stands become our walkway. We do walk-around our VIPs, they get to go in the out, so that works out okay.

Crowd control is actually a REALLY tough position because we are so tight on space, but everyone seemed to have the flow down this year, which made things a little better. We do have traffic cops EVERYWHERE. At each entrance to the pit to make sure everyone is wearing safety glasses, at the entrance to the field and the exit from the field (the exit being the most important because of that stairwell. In fact, this year, we made it so folks could only go DOWN the stairs into the pits, and not up them into the stands), and all along the field to monitor our "mascot pit" and to make sure we don't have folks jumping the arena wall or on the field when they shouldn't be.

I hope this makes things a little clearer for you, Jane! Also, if you want, I can send you the document of crowd control positions with the map of the arena so you can understand a little more how things are laid out.

[JOhnch181]

I feel lucky at portland we have the pit in an exhibit hall and the arena is totally dedicated to the field. We had room to que three robots and plenty of room in the pit.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by BandChick

I hope this makes things a little clearer for you, Jane! Also, if you want, I can send you the document of crowd control positions with the map of the arena so you can understand a little more how things are laid out.

I felt like a spy from the cold war or something takin' (not so) secret pics of that map with my camera phone for future reference. lol

Those pics aren't too shabby for a simple 3 Mega-Pixel camera phone if I do say so myself. lol w00t!
Yay Samung for makin' a pretty cool phone! (U900)
I'm thinkin' I need to play with my light sensitivity setting though to deal with those blaring fields lights though in the future.

[jayjaywalker3]

Originally Posted by waialua359

In NJ, we got the "best" spot since we were the first team to get the rows.
All the veteran low numbered teams up to team 341, Miss Daisy, had to be in the semicircle. They had the worst spot and the longest distance to travel through traffic.

I remember team 449 being at one end of that semicircle. Definitely a pain to get there. Even for me and I only went there like 3 or 4 times.

[mtaman02]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

ok so -
questions -
in the pit area right behind the curtain is a section that stores all the field storage containers the whole weekend?

The only storage containers that remained behind the curtain where those that belonged to the A/V Crew and even then they only kept what they needed out. The only FIRST storage containers that were kept out were those in which we needed out, Tools, Pit, Practice Field, Spare Parts, stuff we know we needed for 3 days. Stuff for the field was moved to a secure room and out of the way. Conviently next to the volunteer lounge :-p

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

and the crates - so many stay in the pits - are they all utilized because they can be or do the crates stay in the pits the whole weekend?

Teams that had crates that transformed from tranportation to a mini work area were the only ones that were left out at the teams request.

And I do thank Ms. Reffler for helping organizing the flow of traffic. It made getting robots to and from the field timely. The only traffic they encounter is that of trying to get out and back in their actual pit. Thank you Sara

The pits like any other regional were a bit crowded but you can get from point a to point b within a reasonable amounts of time. Curious Jane what regional will you be at and what kind of help do you need. If it's local enough to me maybe I can come and help out.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by mtaman02

Curious Jane what regional will you be at and what kind of help do you need. If it's local enough to me maybe I can come and help out.

These questions are curiosity questions mostly. Making use of limited space can be a very complicated but well orchestrated challenge and I've learned a lot through these photos. We rarely get glimpses into the behind-the-scenes of the regionals like this thread has provided.

I'll be volunteering at the new regional in Oklahoma this year!

[mtaman02]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

These questions are curiosity questions mostly. Making use of limited space can be a very complicated but well orchestrated challenge and I've learned a lot through these photos. We rarely get glimpses into the behind-the-scenes of the regionals like this thread has provided.

I'll be volunteering at the new regional in Oklahoma this year!

Thats not close enough for me lol maybe one year I'll make it to mid-west and west coast.

Yea there's alot that goes on during setup. The A/V Crew is the first to arrive and setup most of everything. IN NJ's case we didn't start work on the field till the pit's were situated and till the A/V crew was mostly done with what they had to do. Then we spent about 4 or 5 hours setting up the field. We set up one alliance side then do one side border then the other alliance side and the other side border and then work went on to get the center structure in place. Then we setup the Field Electronics and wait for the IFI guy to come to start testing the field thoroughly then setup the match schedule before thursday morning. Usually the IFI, FTA and Field Power Controller guys don't leave till late (11ish depending how things go with the field and electronics) AND While all this is going on we're also helping other events setup at the same time via phone (more like answering questions and such and visa versa)...

It's truly alot of work that goes on behind the scenes and it takes a long time to setup b/c everything has to be to spec or within an acceptable range of it otherwise we have to start over and do it till we get it right. I think the hardest thing to setup is chalk lining where all the actual parts of the field setup, after that it's just snapping stuff together and securing it to the floor which is done by tape (double sided to keep the carpet from moving much and velcro for the field structures. The heavest part of the field is obviously the player station.