To all the new Rookie teams for the first time there are some things that the Veteran teams wont tell you. They are to selfish to share this vital information but I will let you in on all the secrets. 1. If there is pneumatics you can lessen the weight of the main Tank by drilling holes in it.
2. You can do the same to the Battery to reduce its 14 Lbs weight.
3. If you use Pneumatic tires you can fill them with helium, this will also help reduce the over all weight.
4. stilts can be used by the human player to make them taller.
5. use of Magnetic aluminium is permited.
There are others but I have to find a cave to hide in untill the hit squads give up. Possibly there are other brave souls out there that are willing to risk passing secret info to you but I have done more than I dare.
I must leave you now as I see a “RED” dot heading my wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…
(Those are all very helpful secrets:D Also u can drill holes in the light caps)
/me runs like chicken back to hiding behind the “veteran team selfish rock”
Thanks, I needed that. I haven’t laughed in a while.
This is probably a stupid question but if you drill holes in the battery and the air tank wont they leak? I asked my faculy sponsors if we could do this and they just looked at me funny and said “Uhh no!” So if you could tell me how exactly this works or even maybe a picture that would be great.
Has anyone got any photos from past years to show this team where to place the holes in the Battery and air tank to make them lighter.
This team “really” needs help…
You forgot a few other ways to save weight on the Electrical/control side of the robot. First of all, control boards are very dense material, just a few holes there takes down a lot of weight. Also, my team has been sending TWO wires to each motor, I think as a fail safe. This year though to reduce weight we’re only going to have one wire going to each motor. Makes building much easier too.
~Tom Fairchild~
What a great idea TOM, I never thought of that. The way modern motors are
made today makes the back up Blue wire redundant.
nick237
I’ve got a picture of that battery somewhere…i’ll have to do some looking but i’ll find it and post a pic…
Batteries!!!, you guys had batteries!!! Since Delta Airlines out of Manchester made us leave them in New Hampshire, we just did without them saving an incredible amount of weight. The only problem was, we seemed to have an awfully hard time getting out of the starting box.
By the way, we have a nice photo of a huge stack of batteries sitting on a pallet near the check in line. Just a reminder of that pleasant experience.
Anyone flying out of Manchester will remember that!
I found a pic of the battery with holes in it…for some reason my website is down so i’ll upload it to the chief delphi gallery…
I’ll get a link for it once i see it in the gallery
Clark, what kind of twisted person are you, telling people to drill holes in batteries filled with SULFURIC ACID??? You’re going to get somebody killed with these ‘Secrets’ of yours. NOBODY EVER LISTEN TO CLARK!!!
But it worked for us…
clark, the newbie teams may catch on to your diabolical scheme. It seems that the shadow from the battery is different than the shadow from the robot…quick! correct that and upload the new pic before its too late!
Wow…that battery is pretty impressive there. Now, what size were the holes?? Just for future reference, you know. 
~Christina
Yeah, that battery idiea is pretty cool. How do you know when to stop drilling so that you dont drill into the part with the acid? Thanks!
*Originally posted by Brian Wolz *
**Yeah, that battery idiea is pretty cool. How do you know when to stop drilling so that you dont drill into the part with the acid? Thanks! **
Please tell me you’re kidding Brian, please…
This is probably a stupid question but if you drill holes in the battery and the air tank wont they leak? I asked my faculy sponsors if we could do this and they just looked at me funny and said “Uhh no!” So if you could tell me how exactly this works or even maybe a picture that would be great.
Please tell me that you’re joking…
haha this is really amusing…i hope people arent serious about some of this…
I remember someone posting about this last year. The post is at http://www.chiefdelphi.com/wwwboard-2001/messages/.2001/5588.html.
I wonder if he was serious…
it makes a big difference after you drain the battery and drill many holes. it only weighs about 5 pounds when you’re done:D