Pit Design

[mcarobotics]

So our rookie team has our regional coming up (Greater Toronto West) and we are talking about pit design.
What is a good pit design? What should you absolutely include in your design? What is the best way to arrange your pit? Does anyone have pictures of "ideal" pits?
Thanks!

[Jon Stratis]

For a rookie team... get everything you need and lay it out so its accessible. Remember you'll need to charge batteries and plug in laptops. That's really the only important thing for your rookie year.

Some teams bring bench-top drill presses or bandsaws, but many don't.

Once you're at the competition, check out the other pits. See what sort of battery charging stations people have, or what sorts of shelving/storage they bring. Talk to them about it, and come up with a solution for next year that'll work for your needs!

[MrForbes]

There isn't an "ideal" pit design, each team has their own needs. We have gotten ours down to pretty much the bare essentials. Less stuff in the way, less stuff to have to move in and out of the pit, less stuff to try to fit in the truck or on the bus. And having a clean, neat pit is good for safety, as well as making it easier to work on the robot. We have a tool box, one shelf unit with spare parts, one battery cart, and we put the plastic totes that contained all the parts and batteries during transport, in the corner. We also got a cardboard box to put the bumpers in this year, that's a big help, as they tend to take up a lot of room if you just leave them laying around.

[Eagleeyedan]

Here's an interactive panorama of our pit from our second year as a team. Might give you some ideas!

http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=...a-f9f8988c4782

[AllenGregoryIV]

We posted a pit design guide at the end of last year, it might help give you some ideas.

Spectrum Pit Design Guide Whitepaper

[nicolejoie]

I think the most important qualities a PIT must have is for it be professional, clean, and safe. Remember the dimensions of the PIT and lay everything out beforehand so you know all your tools, batteries, (and most important) your robot can fit in it with room to spare.

Your PIT is the 1st impressions PIT judges will get of your team so make sure you have handouts ready in the PIT with info about your robot, team outreach, and maybe even safety efforts. Also, make sure your PIT shows your spirit! Our team just redesigned our PIT for this season as well but I don't think we have any photos of it from our last competition.