Recent reports indicate that rare instances of TETRIX Battery Pack burn-out have occurred in which battery packs overheated and produced smoke. In even fewer cases, the battery pack has emitted sparks.
It has been determined the largest contributing factor to battery pack burn-out is the puncturing or damage of the battery pack casing, typically caused by improper robot construction. Customers are encouraged to reference the TETRIX Getting Started guide for important safety guidelines and building best practices.
LEGO Education and Pitsco Education will continue to investigate this issue that has currently occurred in less than .2% of all battery packs shipped to date.
If you experience battery burn-out, unplug the battery immediately and contact LEGO Education Technical Support at 800-362-4308. Defective battery packs will be replaced free of charge and should be sent to LEGO Education for tracking purposes.
All LEGO® Education and Pitsco Education products are manufactured, packaged, and sold with the utmost regard for the safety of our users. We regret any inconvenience caused by this issue and welcome all comments and questions.
Care and Safety Tips:
The following are some basic battery pack care and safety tips that will help preserve the life of your battery pack.
-Never leave battery on charger unattended for extended periods of time.
-Pay close attention to not mount battery pack on robot where it may come into contact with sharp
edges or protruding screws.
-To increase battery life and performance, we recommend charging your TETRIX battery pack on the
slower charger setting of 0.9 amp.
Whether you are a member of a FIRST Tech Challenge team or just curious about what this year's competition offers, the below video link is a great introduction to this year's Face Off!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvOI3WmYPas
The FIRST Tech Challenge has launched its new season and game!
"Face Off!" is a reality-based challenge that was developed with input from professional robotics designers across the country to mirror challenges they face today, such as navigating uneven surfaces, manipulating odd-shaped objects, using sensors to determine the environment, and withstanding physical stress.
A new kit has been developed for the 2009 season and consists of an expanded TETRIX by Pitsco metal robot structure kit, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robotics kit, DC drive motors, servomotors, controllers, and advanced sensors. It also includes three software platforms teams can choose from to program their robots, including LEGO NXT-G, National Instruments LabView for FTC, and RobotC.
To learn more about this year's challenge and how to register a team, check out the follow link!
FIRST Tech Challenge "Face Off!"
TETRIX by Pitsco is a revolutionary new metal building system developed for use in high schools! Designed by Pitsco, Inc. and sold by LEGO Education, TETRIX is fully compatible with LEGO Technic, the building system used with LEGO MINDSTORMS.
A unique LEGO connector joins the metal with LEGO elements, creating a path for older students to complete more challenging projects while continuing to use the LEGO NXT Intelligent Brick as the controller.
The metal system will be available in August 2008 for use in the FIRST Tech Challenge and in January 2009 for implementation in schools.
To view TETRIX in action, click here!
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) has announced a new robotics platform for the 2008 FIRST Tech Challenge season! FTC is a robotics competition designed for high-school-aged students. Each fall teams of up to ten students compete at regional tournaments where the students, collaborating with mentors, must apply math and science concepts to solve the annual challenge.
For the 2008 season teams will be required to use the new FTC Competition Kit, which includes a TETRIX Base Set (metal building elements, LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT robotics kit, servomotors, controllers, sensors, and LEGO NXT, LabView for FTC, and RobotC programming software.
In a recent release, Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST, said, "Our primary goal at FIRST is to provide a continuum of connected events that allow children multiple entry points on the path of creativity, lifelong learning, and technologic literacy. I am so pleased that working with our partners Carnegie Mellon University, HiTechnic, LEGO Group, National Instruments, and Pitsco, we have incorporated advanced technology and materials that will enable our challenges to more closely resemble real-world engineering challenges. Overall, we believe we can now provide our studetnts with a robotics experience that is higher quality, more challenging, more rewarding and ultimately more fun."
To learn more about the new platform or to register a team for FTC, CLICK HERE