What is Pit Repping?
Pit Repping, short for Pit Representing, is a crucial part of maintaining a positive team image. Our job is to, as the title suggest, represent our team at the pits. There, we take questions from curious onlookers and answer question from judges and pit scouts.
Lesson 1: About Us
We are Pigmice, team 2733. Based out of Cleveland high school, we're a close knit family of students, mentors, coaches, and parents who are dedicated to teaching young people abilities that are vital for success in the real world. We consider ourselves to be student led, meaning the students get to make the decisions. This allows for learning by experience rather than lecture.
Our Mission:
Our mission is to inspire innovation, encourage creative thought, and foster a community that allows for the development of well-rounded life skills including self-confidence, communication, and leadership for all students who are part of the team.
Our team members come not just from Cleveland, but throughout our community as well. Regardless of experience, everyone is welcome to join our team.
Lesson 2: History
In 2008, a group of committed students, parents and teachers launched a new FIRST Robotics team at Cleveland High School. Many of the students leading the effort came from the 2007 FIRST Lego League Robotics World Champion team from Winterhaven Middle School, called the “Pigmice.”
Building on this successful tradition and choosing to incorporate the playful name, the team continually works to make southeast Portland a hub for K-12 robotics education in Oregon. Since then the Pigmice have been competing at the high school “varsity” level: FIRST Robotics Competition, where students receive regular mentoring from local engineers and industry professionals as they design and build robots that meet specific competition challenges.
What does Pigmice mean?
A member of the founding generation of Pigmice had a particular interest in mix-matching lego animals into bizarre amalgams. One of his favorites was a part-pig-part-mice hybrid, fittingly named Pigmice. This name was suggested for the team's name and it's stuck with us ever since.
Lesson 3: Our Robot
As a pit rep, you're guaranteed to receive some questions regarding your robot. It is important that you are well versed on your robot in the case of receiving one of these questions. Because the robot differs from year to year, the specifics of the information you'll want to memorize changes too.
But as a general rule of thumb, here are a couple of key concepts you should be aware of:
- What your robot is capable of doing
- How it does what it does
- The process you went through to build it
Tip:
If you are unsure about any information, feel free to ask the captain corresponding to that particular field. In the event that you are unable to answer a question, passing it to another person in the pit is perfectly fine.
Lesson 4: Accomplishments and Awards
Over the course of a season, it is almost certain that you'll have accomplished something new. Maybe you've utilized a mechanism in an innovative way or greatly improved upon production quality. Whatever it may be, having some knowledge on this subject will prove to be extremely helpful in answering certain questions. Again, this does change from year to year, so ask around and see what you can learn.
Awards:
On the contrary, the awards we have already won don't change that often. Here's a list of our past awards.
2018: Engineering Inspiration at PNW FIRST Robotics Lake Oswego Event
2018: Entrepreneur Award at PNW FIRST Robotics Clackamas District Event
2017: Pit Safety Award at PNW FIRST Robotics Lake Oswego District Event
2017: Entrepreneur Award at PNW FIRST Robotics Lake Oswego District Event
2016: Entrepreneur Award at PNW FIRST Robotics Oregon City District Event
2016: Judges’ Award at PNW District Wilsonville Event
2015: Judges’ Award at PNW District Wilsonville Event
2014: District Event Finalist at PNW FIRST Robotics Oregon City District Event
2013: Regional Finalists at Spokane Regional
2012: Innovation in Control Award (sponsored by Rockwell Automation) at Spokane Regional
2011: Creativity Award (sponsored by Xerox) at Autodesk Oregon Regional 2007: Won FLL World’s
(You're not expected to know all of these)
Lesson 5: Outreach
Another important aspect of First is outreach. Outreach gives us an opportunity to go into our communities and inspire others to pursue robotics. Advertising our activism within our communities is also an effective way to leave a positive impression. The following is a list of notable outreach events we have attended.
Notable Outreach Events:
Taught design skills to Boy Scouts, the Explorers
School’s Club Fair, Fall Kickoff Assembly, Bridging the Gap
Mentor FLL Teams
FLL team at Tucker Maxon
Practice FLL tournament
Presentation at TWIST: Women in Leadership
Demonstration at WebVisions, Hillsboro Airshow, Maker Faire (Summer of 2015 - 2017), & Oregon Engineering Week
Demonstrations to our sponsors, such as Daimler, FLIR, and TE Connectivity
Personal Volunteering at FTC and FLL tournaments, over 50 hours this year alone
“Bring Your Problem to Work Day” at DWFritz
Portland Marathon volunteering