Quote:
Originally Posted by ErikRantapaa
What's a good way for a team to keep its every growing collection of batteries fully charged?
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Are you talking about during a competition, or in general? You don't really need to keep the batteries totally charged for storage. They won't discharge significantly over a month or two of neglect; you just need to make sure they don't start out empty, keep them from getting too hot or cold, and charge them fully before you use them again.
At competition, just have someone responsible for wrangling batteries. As soon as one shows fully charged (hopefully using a smart charger with a simple green light), disconnect it and flag it as ready to be put to use*. Whenever a charger is available, connect it to the used battery that's been waiting the longest for a charge.
Keep a consistent rotation for matches, so you don't end up using one battery more often than others. If you find you have more chargers than you need at any time, you can go ahead and "top off" the ones that are ready for use if you want to.
* That's what the AndyMark battery flags are for. You can't use a battery without taking out the flag, so they are a great way to keep track of the charged ones. If you put only flagged batteries on a robot, and if you put in a flag only when you take the battery off the charger, you won't accidentally use an uncharged battery.