Quote:
Originally Posted by inkling16
Our robot is nearing completion, and although I am only approximating, I think our final weight will be no greater than 90 pounds. Even if I am off by 10 or 15 pounds, my question still stands: Should we add some deadweight to the robot to get up to 120 pounds?
We will absolutely be be doing our own testing soon to determine what is optimal for us, but I am curious to know what the community's opinions on this issue are. I think that this year will see many more robots that are underweight than in previous years, so I think that this could be a good topic of discussion.
In my opinion, this will be the year where many matches will be decided by pushing contests. Even with the wide open field, I don't see top speeds of greater than 12 fps gaining you anything. In addition, the argument of "we're going to be so fast/maneuverable that we don't need pushing power" does not hold as much weight (haha) this year since few robots will be exclusively offensive. Therefore, I would be very much in support of my team adding weight right up to 119.9 lbs.
|
I would add a little ballast if necessary to get the drive train to run smoother/straighter. Otherwise any added weight should be functional, whether it be added mechanisms for defense that you can easily remove, or LEDs that are aesthetic and/or sends signals to you alliance partner. (Ex. making your ground pickup light up when ready to recieve the ball)
Granted you can justify a bit of frame reinforcement for the same reason you can justify adding more weight in the first place.