Weights on the minibot

[Haaris]

Are we allowed to put weights on the minibot in order to balance it out?

[AlexH]

I'd assume so. Counting on they are made out of the allowed materials.

[Hellfeier675]

Just curious, how much does your minibot weigh?

[Haaris]

What in the allowed parts list would be substantially heavy besides the battery?

[Nathan Streeter]

First, I would strongly recommend balancing your weight using the weight (motors and battery) you already have...

Our minibot only uses magnets to secure itself onto the pole, so when the weight was initially off to one side we trimmed down the aluminum plate on the heavy side and moved the magnet mounts closer to the heavy side. We ended up with the motors about 1.5" away from the magnets and the battery .5" away on the other side, leaving us well balanced and capable of climbing straight up the pole!

It's best to remove or adjust weight to move CG where you want it... particularly since the minibot is a race! If you really can't adjust your design, then perhaps a small PVC tube filled with steel fasteners can help you out.

Best of luck!

[AlexH]

It says in 4.3.14 <92> That you could use a NXT brick. Last time I checked they were kinda heavy. You could also use raw material listed in the parts list.

[sanddrag]

Why would you ever want to add weight to your minibot? That would make it slower. The idea is to make it as fast as possible.

Battery, motors (gearheads removed), some sort of custom rollers, switches, maybe some magnets, and a stick to hold it all together. For the minibot, Minimal=win.

[Hellfeier675]

Ours weighs about 2.3 lbs, that's as light as we cold make it.

[Chris is me]

Don't fix your minibot by adding weight. Move the battery.

You CAN add weight using legal materials, but it will not help your minibot time.