The battery's have a little cover over the cells that pops off at high speed impacts with the pavement. (Must be a safety feature.)
Looks like we will be getting rid of this battery as a safety precaution.
The battery's have a little cover over the cells that pops off at high speed impacts with the pavement. (Must be a safety feature.)
We did that to ours long ago and it has been fine ever since. as long as the case isn’t physically cracked, I think you’ll be okay. If your still worried I suppose you could put a bunch of electrical tape over it. I think those are jsut vents anyway.
The chewed up edge on the right side of the battery in the pic is the only damage along with the cover that popped off. The robot flipped over backward during a demo and the battery fell out and landed on the asphalt.
(That’s why we don’t have nice things! :rolleyes: )
And for the record, this was NOT Elgin’s fault. 
Although he was more than kind enough to get this photo of it.
What are you trying to say?
To further expand on this story, I am shocked that our robot is not in a million pieces by now going by the number of times it has fallen over in competition and also in demonstrations like this on pavement. :ahh:
In 2001 we built a bot for the UTC regional that some of you may remember, and it fell over a lot and pieces fell off as well, which led to a redesign by Nationals then. (We got to take it home for a couple days after UTC and before Nationals.)
Somehow this year that has not happened. The only thing that has fallen off consistently this year is the battery.
(That will change next year - That battery is not going anywhere)
i dunno, even with a strapped in battery, the location can reduce how much of a beating that battery can take. we had ours strapped and velcored in on the battery itself and between the connectors tight as can be, and i know that happened to us at least twice, once at pittsburgh and once at nats =T. just watch where its placed… heheh. always strap it in with velcro connectors
Someone forgot to saw off a screw that was sticking out infront of the battery… So each time we crashed into something, like the mobile goal, there was a chance that we would penetrate the top cover of our battery…
our battery is bolted in with big pads covering it… yes its a pain to change , but it hasn’t been damaged in anyway shape or form
how much weight was cut from that battery?
We haven’t weighed it after the fall. The plastic cover only weighs a few ounces at most. The cover is only glued on and you can see the glue residue in the photo. It doesn’t matter anyhow, modifying the battery is against the rules.