[Al Skierkiewicz]

As Aidan pointed out above, the Anderson connector was required for 2004. Although I have seen teams burn and melt this connector, they were few and far between. They do require proper care and feeding. Do not use alligator clips to connect the battery charger to them. Buy another connector and add it to the leads on your chargers. (watch for polarity, the connectors are marked.) Keep them clean, dirt and other abrasives can damage as much as gator clips. Check for proper insertion and mating. Bent contacts will not give the low resistance needed for high current applications. And here is the biggy...design your robot for efficient electrical usage. It is not necessary to draw 200 amps to move a robot through a two minute match. Rule of thumb is you robot should be able to compete for three matches without a battery change.