Dump Backup Battery

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by eugenebrooks

And, athough the rule clearly says that "any 7.2 volt NiCad battery may be used" the technical inspectors refused our use of a larger 7.2 volt battery in a prior year. If you come to a regional with a different battery you should make sure that you also bring the FIRST provided one just
in case...

Gene,
I would have challenged that ruling. The training was pretty clear that any 7.2 volt battery was OK. The 7.2 volt battery insures that the RC proccessors stay active during 12 volt brownouts. The battery also feeds the radio modem and any servoes connected to the RC. IFI monitors your robot as you set up on the field and can tell the level of both batteries. If your 7.2 volt is missing or low they will alert you to replace the battery. Robots that have large current draw from the main battery will regularly pull that voltage down below the critical 7-8 volts needed to keep the RC alive so IFI came up with this change. You lose control of the robot for a brief time but you don't have to wait for reboot and initialization. Your partners thank you for having a charged and seperate 7.2 volt source for the RC.