Worried about weight ?

[who716]

we are 25 pounds to the good with the robot done we just have to support a structure better wich shoudnt come close to 25 pounds

[Bryce2471]

We weighed in the practice bot, when it had almost everything mechanical on it, but no electronics. It weighed 95bls. Then we weighed in after it was completed, and it weighed 130! D:
Thankfully, with some quick thinking, we weighed it in the next day at 116lbs, without sponsor panels. (We didn't even have to abandon features or swiss cheese!)

[Thad House]

Originally Posted by Bryce2471

We weighed in the practice bot, when it had almost everything mechanical on it, but no electronics. It weighed 95bls. Then we weighed in after it was completed, and it weighed 130! D:
Thankfully, with some quick thinking, we weighed it in the next day at 116lbs, without sponsor panels. (We didn't even have to abandon features or swiss cheese!)

Ah. the good ol' "Forgot about the battery" 14 lbs.

[Fields]

125 lbs with almost everything on it (-battery)
Time to hit the chop shop

[philso]

Originally Posted by Bryce2471

We weighed in the practice bot, when it had almost everything mechanical on it, but no electronics. It weighed 95bls. Then we weighed in after it was completed, and it weighed 130! D:
Thankfully, with some quick thinking, we weighed it in the next day at 116lbs, without sponsor panels. (We didn't even have to abandon features or swiss cheese!)

What were your sponsor panels made from that they weigh 14 pounds?

I hope you got lots of $$ if they are such "heavyweight" sponsors

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by philso

What were your sponsor panels made from that they weigh 14 pounds?

I hope you got lots of $$ if they are such "heavyweight" sponsors

No size limit means a 26'x6.5' banner with sponsors on it.

[JesseK]

We're worried about weight. We put up a couple of stacks this weekend and all of that's well under weight. We've known all along that we'd want to add a specialty mechanism or two, so we've been fairly weight-conscious about everything. If something will be CNC'ed, we save as many ounces as seems practical. If something will be manual milled, we try to do holes, slots or planing. Not everything got done in its lightest form, but I can't complain that we have an integrated robot with a 9/10 primary mechanism at the end of Week 5.

The good news is, it looks like our entire specialty mechanism will fit in under the 30lb withholding, so we can keep that back for more tuning and focus on driver practice while we can.

It's the first time we've ever actually worried about weight - the rest of the years we knew where we were but didn't have to modify anything specifically to get under weight. c.g. isn't the best, but it hasn't been an issue yet during practice.

[Addison4300]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

We are fine I picked up the bot today and estimate its only around 40 pounds. But we also have a somewhat short bot compared to many this year.

40lbs.?! WOW! I think that is the lightest robot I have seen. Ours is currently at 115lbs.

[MrForbes]

...or maybe someone is stronger than he thinks he is?

[SciBorg Dave]

Originally Posted by Bonzabonz

What is the best way to weigh the robot? Last year we used a small bathroom scale with a piece of plywood (for the robot to sit on), but we had a lot of trouble reading the scale since it was all the way underneath the plywood and robot. Are there any better ways of doing this, or do you just have to live with a hard to read display?

We are a 4-H team we use a scale for weighting hogs and sheep. Very portable and light weight. Call your local 4-H in your area.

[Bryce2471]

Originally Posted by Thad House

Ah. the good ol' "Forgot about the battery" 14 lbs.

No, we didn't forget about the battery... that would have been too easy!

Originally Posted by philso

What were your sponsor panels made from that they weigh 14 pounds?

I hope you got lots of $$ if they are such "heavyweight" sponsors

Lol! No, the sponsor panels only weigh a couple pounds, but we ended up removing some of the light weight structure that our sponsor panels were attached to, so they will need to find a new home.

[Dragonking]

If we put everything we wanted to on our robot we would be about 30lbs overweight. Just the bare minimum is already pushing 120. So yeah, we're getting the saws and drills ready.

[Anupam Goli]

Final practice robot weighed in at 126.5 lb. Started doing some budgeting and calculations, looks like we're replacing our 8020 super-structure with 1/16" tubing. Looking to have atleast 4+lb left over to use as ballast.

[The_ShamWOW88]

We're always at the limit so it's a worry but nothing we haven't dealt with. We're currently sitting at about 105 pounds, gives us a little bit to play with in case anything small needs to be added or it at least gives a little play to add some additional weight as a ballast.

[kjohnson]

This is the first time we've been concerned about weight in years. In the past we've used Lexan sheets to display our sponsors and cover electronics from damage but this season we've had to print stickers and apply sponsor logos directly to the frame. We even cut our 3' ethernet cable in half to save an ounce. Currently weighing in around 124, some basic refinements should get us down to 120..