OVERWEIGHT

[Kurt]

So, you guys think that it would be alright to drill holes in our air tank to remove any unnecessary weight. I also heard that removing the lead in the battery is a very efficient way of removing weight.

Please, nobody do that.


But Seriously. Step Drills work wonders on removing weight when drilling holes...many, many holes.

[Jason_384]

I guess for those teams who are using there pnumatics only once mabey twice U could just leave the compresser off to shed about 10 lbs... this would only work if U were using a 2 step cylinder tho(where it locks out) correct me if im wrong it wouldnt be the first time....



Jason
Team 384's friendly neigborhood programmer

[Don Taylor]

We were initially 3 lbs over, but it is amazing how difficult it is to lose even 3 lbs !! We use Inventor to track our weight as the design progresses, it really helps.

Don Taylor
Team 343
Metal in Motion

PS we now know exactly how much 1 ft of 10 ga wire weighs !

[Leo M]

I think Small Parts sells different sized holes you can place on the robot to reduce the weight. We had a big box of them around here, but you have to be careful not to mix up the sizes or the small holes will fall through the big ones and you'll never find them again.

Has anyone tried running the compressor on helium? That might be a feasible solution to a slight weight problem, if you aren't concerned about having a robot with a squeaky voice.

Next year Exide will have their new batteries out - the ones that run on neutrinos, which are massless. Getting rid of that big box of electrons will certainly help out with the weight.

Since permanent magnets are allowed in any amount, you could try mounting some oriented with the earth's magnetic field to provide some lift. Your machine would have to be able to handle directional derivatives, though, and convolution integrals aren't on the additional hardware list. It might be better to try working in the frequency domain.

I have been struggling with this problem for some time, and think maybe there is a topological answer. If we start with the Moebius strip in two dimensions, and move to the three-dimensional Klein bottle, maybe there is a way to go up to a four-dimensional construct (maybe we can call it a 'Kamen Manifold') and make the weight disappear entirely. Then you can use all kinds of neat stuff like PVC pipe with the OD smaller than the ID, so that the inside is on the outside........................

Is anyone else really, really tired?????