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Unread 25-02-2009, 10:10
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Re: Methods of adding ballast to underweight robots

Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Rotolo View Post
We found (and used) a 1" square bar of bronze which weighs 0.17 pounds per inch. Last year we used about 8 pounds of it, this year about half that.

large copper wire - like 600 MCM - is heavy and relatively inexpensive. We have an 8 inch piece which weighs about half a pound, maybe more. If you know an electrician, maybe she will loan you a few feet - but give it back after the season, or pay the scrap value to them at least.

I hear small pieces of railroad track are heavy...
Don has the same idea we did. We used 1" diameter brass rod because it is what we had around. It looks very sharp when polished up and was easy to mount pretty much anywhere we wanted. One rod runs along the back of our base and weighs about 10lbs. The other rod runs near the front and weighs about 8 lbs. In the end I would recommend this method for adding weight due to the ease of mounting and the nice look it adds.
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