FTC pit checklist
Nearly every match a team loses in the pit is lost to something on this list. Print it, or run it as a checklist so it records who checked what.
Pack the night before:
- Robot, and the battery charger — the single most forgotten item
- At least two charged batteries, more if you can
- Spare motors, servos, wheels and the fasteners that hold them
- Full tool kit, including the hex sizes your robot actually uses
- Laptop with the current code, its charger, and a USB cable that works
- Driver station device, charged, plus its cable
- Engineering notebook and portfolio
- Zip ties, tape, thread locker, spare wire and connectors
- Team shirts, water, food, safety glasses for everyone in the pit
On arrival:
- Pass inspection early — do not wait for the queue
- Set the battery charger up and start the rotation
- Confirm the robot connects to the field control system
- Check the match schedule and write down your first three matches
- Walk the field and look at this season’s elements up close
Before every match:
- Fresh charged battery, seated and secured
- All fasteners checked on anything that moves
- Wheels and drivetrain free, nothing rubbing
- Correct autonomous program selected and confirmed out loud
- Driver station charged and paired
- Nothing loose left inside the robot frame
- Team members know which alliance and which side
Between matches:
- Battery straight onto the charger
- Write down what broke or nearly broke, while you remember
- Fix the thing that nearly broke before it does
- Log the match result and anything worth scouting about your partners
- One person checks fasteners on the whole robot
End of day:
- Every battery on the charger
- Repairs listed and assigned
- Notebook updated while the day is fresh
- Pit packed so tomorrow starts without a search
Adapt it to your robot. A checklist that lists a mechanism you do not have gets skimmed, and a skimmed checklist catches nothing.