My team is looking for a 10 ft by 10 ft tent with a canopy for our pit. We’d like to work with a company that is reputable, and can produce a high quality, branded tent. Any company recommendations?
My family uses this one for camping and it’s pretty robust.
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Keep in mind a tent will block the venue lighting and may not be the best choice.
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Taking a step in the opposite direction of tents, I highly recommend a proper lighting rig for your pit. It makes everything from robot maintenance to judge visits much more enjoyable. Enclosed pits, even with lighting, have an uncomfortable atmosphere (in my opinion).
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Honestly, I hate tents for just this reason. The pits are always either way too dark, or they overcompensate with their own lights and they’re way to bright.
Additionally, consider the height of your robot once it’s on a cart - I’ve seen teams that have to lift the front of their tent up every time they want to take their robot in and out. Also consider the height limitation on testing - rotating an arm or lifting an elevator won’t work too well if you give yourself an artificially low ceiling!
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I agree with tjf, just say no to tents as it makes it very dark in your pit and difficult to see what you are doing. Nothing worse as an RI/LRI as trying to inspect a robot in a tent.
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also you may want to have a pit system that is adaptable, venues are only required to supply a pit space of 8 foot by 8 foot, not 10x10, so if you go to an event that is pressed for space with a tent like that, you may run into some issues.
We’re going to attach our own flood lights on the inside
Depending on the venue, canopies might not be allowed.
We used to use a pop up like you have linked. We had to remove the cover at some events due to fire rules at that venue… Besides as mentioned it really can hurt the lighting of your work area. In addition you might not get a 10x10 area. We have gone to PVC segments that allows greater flexibility.
I don’t get the pit tent. For teams with them, what do you feel it accomplishes? I’m genuinely curious.
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I echo this. We are always looking for ways to be more efficient with our pit setup. Trying to bring less “stuff” to competition. Tent seems like it creates a need for more stuff without reason.
A lot of teams like having a pit structure and don’t have access to a framed structure. Using the tents gives them a place to hang things, decorate, and personalize.
It’s not for everyone. Those teams don’t design their pit to be as “functional” as possible, they hold those other factor over less stuff to pack or lighting. But it’s what they like and how they like to have it setup.
It helps define your space, giving your team space a unique feel.
Adds areas to hang tools and additional lighting.
Areas for hanging sponsor banners and if lucky enough perhaps a few blue…
We have gone back and forth on pit systems… We have to fly to any competition so some trips we have skipped bringing one and I have found I missed it…
Having one has been a good thing for us. We hang whiteboards on them to keep track of match schedule, battery charging, strategy boards, etc. and you can hang pouches for handouts (buttons, etc) as well as judging materials…
If done wisely you can bring in another level of organization to your pit with some team branding too!
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The last couple of years we were told no covers on canopies at events for fire code. So now we just have a large pit sign and some shop lights. I liked being able to run ethernet and other wires through the canopy and drop them from the center to the robot. But no longer.
Just don’t use the canopy. I’ve seen it done very classy, and I’ve seen it done very poorly.
The cheap frame is great and you can use the canopy at outreach events. Try to find one with the posts that go up at a 90* angle rather than slope in to maximize your space.
Hope this advice helps. If you’re looking for a good alternative to a tent, PVC pipes work very well and can be assembled quickly. Trade show booth trusses are very nice but often run into the thousands of dollars.
I’d recommend getting a pit layout first before buying a tent and have a lit of priorities for your pit to have. We generally like to have ample room for spare parts and students. But it gets really crammed really fast.
If you have questions on pit design, hmu I’ve helped design a couple.
My favorite pits include 4028 and 5740s
This. Just make sure to choose the classy option. Gives you a ready-made, easy-to-“assemble” way to hang cables, lights, and decorations, without all the downsides everyone already mentioned. (And to add one downside to using the canopy, in venues with less than ideal ventilation, it can be noticeably hotter under the canopy.)
You may want to try your setup before going to competition. Often, floodlights will cast deep shadows, especially when a bunch of team members are crowded around the robot.
And I have been in venues where the amount of power in each pit was limited, so high wattage lights may be a problem.
Piling on a bit here… 3946 purchased a pop-up canopy a few years ago, but figured out pretty quickly (first event) that we had no use for the canvas part, except when we did a demo outside at the park. The pop-up frame makes a great structure for attaching walls and hanging lights and tools and even bumpers and other things, but unless the venue’s roof leaks, there’s no benefit in putting a layer of fabric overhead.
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Agreed. Also a heat trap. Had one for one solid day as rookies. Never again.