Battery Movement w/ Linear Actuator

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by the man

I read one earlier that said you could do this, but the leads can only be so long on the battery 12inches, and the battery doesn't make up for a lot of the robots weight so it wont impact the cog very much. The best bet is to move you robot very slowly.

The battery weights 11-12 lbs. Your robot weighs 120. 10% is fairly significant, especially when you consider the mechanism moving it will add to the weight as well.

Any moving battery is going to invite extra scrutiny from the lead robot inspectors for safety reasons, but there is no current rule that would prohibit it. Keep in mind, if your battery pops out of the robot at any point on the field, your robot is going to be disabled (due to unsafe operation). Also, if you're driving around at full speed with your battery (in its mechanism) hanging outside of your bumper, that could be interpreted as unsafe operation as well (a solid hit could damage the battery). After that happens, you're robot is going to get even more scrutiny from the inspectors, the refs, and the FTA!

So please, if you're moving your battery, make sure it's not only firmly attached to the mechanism, but that the mechanism is firmly attached to the robot and moves in a safe way!

[the man]

11-12 pounds of a, 140 ish pound robot. Honestly I think the bridges wont be that hard to balance the problem will be fitting three robots on the bridge. But I still think moving the battery wont give you any advantage and it could be slightly dangerous.