Two Story Pit Area?

FIRST General Forum
#21

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. :smiley:

#22

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.

#23

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.

#24

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.

#25

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

#26

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.

#27

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.

#28

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.
#29

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)
#30
  1. Resting (mattresses and pillows for tired team members)

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

#31

This is a “fun” thread to brainstorm about tweo-story pits ala professional trade shows, but alas it is NOT allowed by FIRST. Pits should be limited to 10’ in height. Also, if you’ve never been to Atlanta GWCC, your pit should be open-topped to let-in as much of the ambient lighting as possible; otherwise makes it tough to work on robot!

Even if it was allowed, it is hugely cost-prohibited and the venue (The Georgia Dome and World Congress Center) imposes their own safety regulations:
http://www.gwcc.com/exhibitors/documents/Multi%20Story%20Booth%20Guidelines.pdf

Better start getting your funding, plans, permits, etc for the Taj Mahal ready for the 2008 season!

#32

You are correct, the safety risks of building up in the pits is just too great. The only was to go for more space is to dig a basement.

#33

four words for you: “camera on a pole” :smiley:

#34

will people please stop posting stuff about guidelines and stuff about why we can’t do it, you guys are totally killing the buzz. Just go with the flow.

And for the 5 Stories
1: Robot Repair and heavy stuff
2: Bags and Pins and other give aways
3: Lounge with TV and PS2 or XBox 360
4: Kots or some other beds to sleep in
5: “Gentalmen’s” club

#35

I had always dreamed of a 2 story pit, I believe a team did it this year out of painters scaffolding.

#36

Hey,
the Wold Congress Center in Atlanta actually has 30’ high ceilings, so why not go for a THREE_story tall pit?

let’s see now, the elevator tags will read:
—first floor, robot repair shop complete with polished concrete floor
—2nd floor; co-ed crash mosh pit (Ok, maybe a velvet curtain)
—3rd floor; robo-lounge complete with revolving disco dance floor
—rooftop-mounted 360 degree spy surveillance cameras with pan, tilt and zoom to check-out everyone else’s pit. Do your scouting from the relaxation of a Naugahide recliner in the robo-lounge…

yeah, I like that idea! Cool.

Oh yeah, I forgot that you have to submit plans six months in advance, and have to use their union labor to assemble the pit…But, maybe with enough AutoCAD work over the next season…hmmmmm.

#37

lets not forget that team cooperation is a good thing.
your 5 story pit should be designed for easy access to the neighbors pit structure. thus we should develop standards for pit access.
also, to reduce elevator traffic, we would need sky bridges from the 3rd story of your pit to the pit across the aisle.
properly designed, the judges need not walk on the floor of the arena, they just travel across the 3rd floor access ways.

jerry w

#38

I remember that, they were right next to us I beleive, and it was strange to come out of our tent and see 2 guys sitting up there with binoculars, I might even have a pic somewhere

#39

While FIRST will never allow it, it can be fun to dream…

http://www.ncaonline.org/DataProducts/images/Rawlyn212.jpg

This thing is called a Tower Blind and hunters use it to blend in with surroundings and get some nice pre-fab shelter from which to pick helpless animals off with. Tower Blinds are made to be quite portable and are usually pretty small, (I’d say roughly within that 10*10ish area) so that they are easily transported to hunting sites. I haven’t done a whole lot of research but I think they run upwards of $800 to $4,000.

Practically this is about the easiest way to actually get your idea safely into a pit… Oh, and I think scouting should get dibs on that second floor…

#40

Does anyone have pictures of this? I’d be really interested to see something like this.

Also, do you think that anyone would have a problem with a camera on a 15 foot high pole? I don’t know why, but it’d be pretty cool to have at your pit. You could see what’s happening pretty much everywhere.
Hey… FIRST competition pit traffic reports.

And that hunting thing doesn’t seem to be blending in very well. Then again, it’s probably made to be placed in trees.