Materials Needed: Spider boxes (case 50), tri-tap extension cords (case 51).
This guide assumes that there is a twist-lock power connection available, either from a generator or directly from the venue. Setup can proceed without the generator being fully ready, as long as the distribution box has been placed.
There are minimal pictures available to guide this step of pit power setup, because it is inherently custom to each venue.
Product page including instruction manuals for the spider boxes can be found here.
Danger: High Voltage
Electricity is dangerous. Treat all conductors as live unless you personally have tested them with a multimeter. Do not connect, disconnect, or touch conductors of cables while they are energized, particularly the “feeder” twist-lock or Camlock cables.
- Determine the location necessary for the Spider Boxes. Each spider box has six outlets, each of which powers up to three pits using the tri-tap extension cords (max. 18 pits per spider box). There is a limited quantity of spider boxes, so the pit layout needs to accommodate this constraint.
- Place spider boxes at necessary locations. When doing this, visualize cable paths back to the distribution box or venue power drop(s). Ensure as few walkways or robot pathways are crossed as possible.
The following steps can be completed in parallel, or in any order as all key components to power distribution have been placed at this point. This is a great task to have pit setup folks help with, when they are finished with taping the pits.
- Run twist-lock cables from the distribution box or venue power drop(s) to each spider box. When attaching the cables to each other, or to distribution boxes, be sure to twist the cable fully clockwise to ensure the best contact. The spider boxes can be daisy chained together, if this suits the venue layout best.
Ideal Setup for Feeding Spider Boxes
If possible and feasible, try to feed the pits with two independent cable runs from the distribution box. This increases the amperage available for each team, lessens the likelihood of tripped breakers, and helps distribute the load more evenly across electrical phases.
- Run tri-tap extension cords from the spider boxes to pits. When doing this, try to give the teams that will be using the pits cues about which outlets they should use. The outlets should point in the direction of the intended users and should be placed in the middle of the set of pits intended to use it.
- Place a piece of tape over any venue outlets that may be confused with pit power outlets. Gym power is often very constrained and needed by the field.