Tips for Driver Practice

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by Bill_B

Put someone in charge of timing the practice runs for each section's length. The worst thing you can do for your batteries is to let your enthusiasm for practicing run the batteries into the ground. Mileages vary but five minutes of hard practice is a good rule of thumb for those without explicit measurement tools. Wait. You say you only have eight batteries? Yes, that does mean only 40 minutes of driving time unless you're charging during practice. How many minutes driving do you get at qualifications? Would you start match 2 with the same battery as match 1? Why would it differ at practice?

In short, change batteries frequently. Put the one just used onto a charger very soon after it comes out of service. Do not let the last batteries of the day wait until your next meeting to get their electrons jolted back into shape. Think of driving practice as competition practice. Those pit crews at NASCAR never just go through the motions.

From another thread, for consideration in this one...

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

[snip]To make sure you get max charge, let the battery cool down after you take it off the robot for 30 minutes or more. [snip]

I do very much agree with timing practice sessions. It helps reinforce how much time is actually in a match as well as protecting batteries. The "practice" option in the operator interface is great for this.