March 21 - 23, 2024 – MVP Arena Albany, NY

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EVENT SAFETY

Participants and team mentors must review the FIRST safety policies and the FIRST Safety Manual located here. These resources provide sound safety practices for your team’s work space and FIRST events. Every team should know, understand and follow the safety rules found in the FIRST Safety Manual.

VENUE ENTRY

Please arrive early to allow enough time to pass through the security check point. All bags, boxes, bins, etc. will be subject to inspection.

SITE RESTRICTIONS

  • Do not use skateboards, wheelies or ‘hoverboards’. This is a safety concern.
  • Do not use drones. This is a safety concern.
  • Do not bring bottled gas tanks (e.g. helium). This is a safety concern.
  • Do not use noisy devices, such as floor stompers, whistles and/or air horns.
  • Do not arrange for Internet access or phone lines from venue service providers or attempt to use venue internet connections reserved for event purposes (e.g., FMS or streaming).
  • Do not sell any products. This includes food, hats, shirts or any promotional products.
  • Do not distribute any food products, such as candy, water, soft drinks or fruit.
  • Do not sell raffle tickets.
  • Do not use walkie-talkies.
  • Do not play loud music in the Pit because it interferes with important announcements. If a team receives more than a warning or two, the power to the team Pit will be shut off and/or the music device confiscated.

PERSONAL SAFETY

In addition to the ANSI-approved, UL-listed, or CSA rated safety glasses required for eye protection, NY Tech Valley FIRST highly recommends that team members and mentors:

  • Refrain from wearing dangling jewelry or loose, baggy clothing near the robots;
  • Tie back long hair and hoodie strings so that they will not get caught in the robot or other machinery; and
  • Wear gloves to protect hands and fingers when handling the robot or the robot crate; finger injuries are one of the most common injuries at events!

PIT SAFETY

  • No team station structures, signs, flags, or displays can be higher than 10 feet above the floor.
  • Team signs, flags, and displays must be securely mounted to the Pit structure.
  • Pop-up tent tops are not allowed. The frames are allowed for hanging things but not the material tops.
  • Please ensure the footprint of any structure within a team pit space fits within the 10' x 10' area allotted.

ELECTRICAL & TOOL SAFETY

  1. Teams will have access to support services from the RPI machine shops on site and on campus for machining & welding support.  These services will be provided by RPI staff.  Participants are not allowed in the machine shop areas.
    • Thursday, March 17, 2016 from 8:30 am – 8:00 pm
    • Friday, March 18, 2016 from 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
    • Saturday, March 19, 2016 from 8:00 am – 2:00 pm
  2. On Site Machine Shop capabilities:
    • Hand tools, manual knee mill, engine lathe, band saws, belt sander, drill press.
  3. On Campus Machine Shop capabilities:
    • Hand tools, manual knee mills, engine lathes, band saws, sanders, MIG welding, TIG welding, surface grinder, abrasive water jet, 80 watt CO2 laser cutting.
  4. Reminder:
    • Modifying parts at night offsite (e.g. pits have closed and you bring a MECHANISM back to the hotel to fix it) is a violation of R16.
  5. Team Equipment-Drill presses and band saws
    • Teams are not allowed to bring their own floor standing power tools, such as drill presses and band saws. A Machine shop is available for teams to use on campus. See Chapter 4 of the game manual for more information about machine tools at events.
  6. Electrical Outlets
    • Each team is limited to 1 plug strip off of the primary circuit.
  7. Electrical Cord Usage (equipment and extension cords)
    • No daisy chaining of electrical connections will be permitted ( ie cannot plug strips into strips and cannot use plug adapters.
    • All cords must be in good condition, not electrical taped. (These electrical rules are national electric code rules; they are also OSHA Regulations as well as fire code requirements.)
    • Power strips must be surge protected.
    • Ensure cords do not pose a tripping hazard.
    • Teams are not allowed to use electrical cords, extension cords, power strips in the stands for laptops, cameras, etc.