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Unread 26-03-2009, 12:14
Unsung FIRST Hero
Al Skierkiewicz Al Skierkiewicz is offline
Broadcast Eng/Chief Robot Inspector
AKA: Big Al WFFA 2005
FRC #0111 (WildStang)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Rookie Year: 1996
Location: Wheeling, IL
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Re: Methods of adding ballast to underweight robots

Quote:
Originally Posted by Team 135 View Post
I know at the midwest regional there was a team filling water bottles with sand. This is a great way to do it because you can evenly distribute the weight across the bot.
Anthony,
Yes, that was the case, but the teams in question had to add additional material to satisfy the lead inspector, namely sealing the bottles with super glue, wrapping entirely with layers of tape and mounting in a very secure manner inside the frame of the robot where they could not be touched by robot collision. Repeated trips to the pit to re-examine the ballast were required as even a small amount of sand would have changed the frictional forces of the floor. In looking back, I am not sure that was the best decision. Although there were no spills, I felt uncomfortable about it the rest of the weekend.
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Good Luck All. Learn something new, everyday!
Al
WB9UVJ
www.wildstang.org
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Storming the Tower since 1996.