Engineering slogans

[Petey]

I prefer IOTTMCO.

Intuitively obvious to the most casual observer.

--Petey

[Elgin Clock]

I heard a potential quote of the day tonight at our meeting from our Head Mentor of electrical/programming.

"I hate programs that think they know more than I do."

[Wayne Doenges]

Some of my favorites;

The program is never wrong.
I've cut it off three times and it's still too short.
If all else fails, read the instructions.

*throws $.02 at kitty*

Wayne Doenges
CAD Mentor

[114gopher]

I know its not quite an engineering slogan, but sometimes our freshmen can be quite immature. I heard a good quote and have had to use it more than I like.

"Try to act your age, not your shoe size."

[Eria4044]

I cant take credit for these, but my favorite section is you might be an engineer if:



clicky (http://www.wanderingtrail.com/Humor/engineers.htm)

clicky2 (http://www.engineeringedu.com/jokes.html)

You mught be addicted to FIRST if you know your schools midnight janitor, tell him you'll lock up in a little while, and often are the last soul in the building

Those are hilarious. But your yin-yang animation mesmerized me for a minute. You might want to do something about that. :yikes:

[bigqueue]

"When in doubt, throw it out."

"Don't just stand there....Do something, even if it's wrong.....you can always do it again."

"Measure twice, cut once."

"If it's worth doing, it's worth your time to do it right".

[Bryan D]

Over time our teams come to adopt the quote:
"If it doesn't work, blame the captain!"
It usual breaks up the stress at the time ;)

[KORN_lover_2007]

We are obsessed with KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid, although we sometimes make a change to go with one of our mentors, Keep It Simple Scherman. :)

[plutonium83]

"r0x0rz the s0x0rz"

"Honk if j00 r0x0rz!"

[Metalhugginman]

Anything above the minimum is a waste! :ahh:

[Matt Adams]

While I was talking to another student in one of my engineering classes, I was telling her that she's lucky to be in a major with such great odds, namely the high guy to girl ratio.

She countered with something along the lines of...

Yes, the odds are good... but the goods are odd!

It definitely made me crack up.

Matt

[Joe J.]

This is an old favorite from my team:
"Good enough for government work"

This is a new one from this year:
"Shut Up and Build"

These two are common statements from last year:
"Our first priority is Plan B."

"Well I can't get it to work." "Crush it in the vice and call it a day."

Then you have to include this one:
"God help us we're in the hands of engineers." Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park, 1993

[R81Honda]

"That will do... For now I guess"

"Ah just go ahead and run it like it is"

[Omni L]

For OCCRA, an off season robotics league, I had a little fun with our lable maker, labling such things as "band saw" "grinder" "floor" "window" "tom" "tools" and most importantly, "robot" On that note we borrow a labelmaker early last quarter and labeled all kinds of things around our new, larger shop; most prominently our mid floor electrical sockets (which stick up about 6 inches and have 4 plugs, and make very pretty blue smoke when they short), which now read, "don't trip."
So far, only one or two people haven't tripped over them.

Oh, and my engineering slogan is:
"If it has to be perfect, find a mathematician; if you want it to work, find an engineer"

[Conor Ryan]

"Whats the difference between a Mechanical Engineer and a Civil Engineer?
Mechanical Engineers build bombs, Civil Engineers build targets"

[Devil2005]

"$@#$@#$@#$@# the robots, they're supposed to be our faithful servants" - Chandler Bing (Friends)

[Kevin Watson]

My personal favorite.. "If it ain't broke, fix it till it is"My wife, also an engineer, once observed a group of guy engineers tweaking some hardware to get the last 0.001% and commented wryly "...they're gonna fix it until it's broken".

-Kevin

[roboguy #1]

That wouldn't be the first time i heard that. My dad told me whats the difference between Civil and Mechanical Engineers....Some time to think..No Idea!...Well Mechanical Engineers build guns and weapons. Civil Engineers build targets for them.

[Jeff Pahl]

Everything Craftsman makes is a hammer...some of them just look funny

[fefie]

If something breaks........just use duck tape, life's geatest tool. :D

[fefie]

Here is one I think everyone would like!
:yikes:
If you start with junk you will end with junk ;)

[SirGimpOfBaath]

"If the prototype works so well, why not just mount the prototype on the robot?"

[james carlisle]

Here's one for you programers:
P.E.B.C.A.K.(problem exists between chair and keyboard)

[Steve P]

Were not building a church.

[pakrat]

I can't read this whole thing... :ahh: :ahh: But one of our mentors wears the shirt...

"if it isn't broken....


Take it apart and fix it"

[doyler]

Good enough for government work

(programming ones)
It's all the engineers/electrical people's fault
PEBKAC i like
In theory...
It worked before
It should work...

[Carolyn Duncan]

If it moves when it's not supposed to duct tape it. If it doesn't move when it's supposed to WD40 it.
Another variation includes
If it doesn't move when it's supposed hammer it 'til you need the duct tape.

[craigcd]

"Education is directly proportional to the amount of equipment you burn up"

Live by it!

[Tazlikesrobots]

In life there are only two tools necessary; duct tape and WD40. If it moved and it should not, then use the duct tape. If it does not move and it should, then use WD40.

You have experienced a UBF (User Brain Failure) error.

No your other left

And finally Murphy’s Law of fools…when you fool proof something, someone invents a better fool.
:D

[SirLancelot]

S.W.A.G.

-Scientific Wise-$@#$@#$@# Guess

Why bother with all of the calculations?

[[527]phil]

my slogan is "just because it's not the right tool for the job doesn't mean you can't use it"

[Eria4044]

And finally Murphy’s Law of fools…when you fool proof something, someone invents a better fool.
:D

That reminds me of a funny quote: "Software programming is a race between programmers to create bigger and better programs and the universe to create bigger and better idiots. So far the universe is winning." I may have paraphrased, so here's another quote: "You can never trust a stupid mans account of what a smart man has said, because the stupid person subconsciously translates what the smart person said into terms he can understand." Or something like that.

[Eria4044]

Hvae any of you ever read the Jumbo Book of Duct Tape? Very quotable, and it may give you some ideas for a robot. Who would've thought that you could make a helicopter out of electric fans and a lawn chair?

[mpking]

Hvae any of you ever read the Jumbo Book of Duct Tape? Very quotable, and it may give you some ideas for a robot. Who would've thought that you could make a helicopter out of electric fans and a lawn chair?


How about a hovercraft?

FIRST had a tradition back in the early 90's for fielding "The Placebo". Due to the limited number of teams, a bot was fielded by FIRST to fill the space, yet not really accomplish much during the match. (The was before the concept of alliances was introduced, each team was for itself)

The three Placebo's I directly experianced were

1998 - The Box. The last Placebo, just a plywood box that sat on the field
1997 - The Cleaner. A vacuum cleaner outfited with motors and a radiocontrol unit. Actually managed to score some points. (Our team would always throw some Torroids on the handle to score the Placebo some points)
1996 - Hovercraft. First using only the Kit of parts (Plus two extra drill motors) created a hovercraft.

They're were others before those years, but I wasn't in FIRST then.

[Rick TYler]

Comment usually preceding a spectacular failure:

"I can't think of any reason why it won't work."

- Rick

[Han Tzu]

Work hard or go home

Better lucky than good (never ask for the story about that one)

Do it right, or do it elsehwere

[Simon Strauss]

"send Genna" (whenever we send him to search for a tool that we cant find it always shows up right infront of our faces)

"if mike is 1000% sure it will work, dont do it" (mike is our pr guy who likes to tighten bolts to tight when he works in the shop)

[scali]

"You only need 3 tools. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40 and a hammer."

[Kate00]

"If it can't survive being thrown out the window, then it's not going to survive competition"

[S.Nickens]

You can't polish a turd.

[Rick TYler]

"You only need 3 tools. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40 and a hammer."

This is a variant of two old classics, which are probably up there in the previous 19 pages of quotes which I am not nearly dedicated enough to look through.

#1. Military version: If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't move, paint it.
#2. Aerospace version: Cut to size, beat to fit, paint to match.

A couple of others I've come across:

#3. Any technical problem that can be fixed with money isn't really a problem.
#4. "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." Robert Heinlein

[jrocket567]

"Were makin chicken salad outta chicken s&*t"
-said whenever we have to 'ghettofab' something, or 'move' a hole around..

[Validius]

Um
'Beware of the Killing Machine' aka the Milling Machine....when a bit breaks off of that...its deadly.....

lol, A guy was on the drill press drilling a steel plate and the press sucked it outa the vice and it started spinning arround at 750 RPM and shot off like a throwing star and stuck in the cinder block wall.

Oh yea, and my quote is "If at first you dont succeede, get a bigger hammer"

[Validius]

ooo, here is another one

"never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers"

[Simon Strauss]

heres another

Programers are like the opposite sex, can't live with 'em can't live without 'em

[Alekat]

"It will always take you twice as long as you think to finish a job. If you double the time you think it will take, it will take you four times as long."

Thanks to a poster I saw at UC Davis High School for this one.

[JamesBrown]

I havent read all these in a while.

more math than engineering, but "There is no sqr(-1) in team"

sqr= Square root

[roboguy #1]

If it works make it work better!

Three working gearboxes were taken apart and I was put in charge of sanding the shafts to fit smoother into the bearings and gears. Well they fit. Basically it takes the combined effort of a set-screw and spacers to keep the shafts in place.

[MikeRo]

If the goal was built graciously and professionaly. It should be capped with speed and autonomously."
word to the programmers

[shotgunking777]

we made a quote book



p.s. i quite!

[Conor Ryan]

"if it doesn't have a coffee maker in it yet, its not done"

[Simon Strauss]

havnt read everything on this topic but from what i have read it seems like no one mentioned the reason why all of us guys joined first(or atleast all of us on team 1155). "chicks dig power tools"

[A. Leese]

Something we always said was "If it isn't on fire, it's a software problem"

Hehe

I <3 you, Eric..but we did say this behind your back ;)

[Jay Trzaskos]

This has pretty much been 229's slogan for 2005

"So we want a robot thats specialized, in versatility?"-JVN at kickoff

[cvhsrobotics]

If it ain't broken take it apart and fix it!

Poke it if it doesn't work!

[GennyMS]

"You only truly need three thing to fix something:
* WD-40 - if it should move and doesn't
* A hammer - if its in one place and should be in an other
* Duct tape if it moves and it shouldn't " ~My Dad~

"good enough for government work" ~Jason Joye~

if a tool went missing Allison Rooks always says "I ATE IT!"

[Arrowsmith]

"Ok team, our goal for today is to not make it do that one thing it's been doing anymore. If by chance we make it do some entirely new thing, our goal will be to get it to do the old thing again, because change makes me feel uncomfortable."

[Peter Matteson]

Always said when striking a piece of hardware with a hammer or other blunt obect to "adjust" it.

"Once is maintenance, twice is abuse."

[katiyeh07]

on our team, this is the one we shouldn't go by, but most the time do:
"measure once, cut twice, buy a new piece"
it becomes a bad bad bad habit

[CraigHickman]

Most of ours are inside jokes, and I'm new on the team, so I don't get most of them. However, one that was created during my time on the team has to do with any wiring problem. This term is known as "Nick Wiring." This had to do with wiring a victor's input and outputs to power. It made nice smelling sparks.

[katiyeh07]

"Umm ... guys? The motor just released the 'magic white smoke'!!" :confused:

- Katie

That happened to us last year the night before the scrimage, one of the students simply replied: "mmm the sweet sweet smell of failure"

[wk1989]

-"You have a brain, use it."
-"We don't care how you do it, make it work."
-"If you can do it, do it, if you can't do it, DO IT!"

[Gabe]

"Test it, test it, TEST IT!!!"
"A masterpiece of bad engineering." (Jokingly, of course.)
"Always use the right tool for the job."


[ ;) I revived this thread because I know everyone has their own little personal saying/slogan that they have been keeping to themselves while they look for the ideal opportunity to tell all of us. C'mon now, we all do this. So let's hear 'em!]

[Mark Rozitis]

Ok...I just thought this up:

On my team, we have the saying "righty-tighty, lefty-loosy" to teach the kiddies which way to turn the screwdriver. (if only they'd remember:rolleyes: )


Does your team have any funny/useful slogans for remembering technical/engineering things?:D

ASAP! As slow as possible? As Simple As possible?

[James1902]

"George don't touch the tools we can't afford to buy new ones."

"Crap we're in the finals and our rollers bent, Robbie, get the hammer."

[wendymom]

And if that doesn't fix it.....get a bigger hammer

[M4 Sherman]

"If it doesnt fit, force it, and if it brakes, it needed to be replaced anyways"

"Close enough for government work."

[RoboMadi]

"To do is to be, and to be is to do............Do Be Do Be Do"

(on the matter of members coming in and doing nothing)

[Andrew Lawrence]

All you need to do is get another persuadenator. If that doesn't work, bring out the persuadenatorenator.

[Akash Rastogi]

All you need to do is get another persuadenator. If that doesn't work, bring out the persuadenatorenator.

Thread Revival Level: SuperNerd256

[CalTran]

I'd like to know how he found this thread...

[Andrew Lawrence]

I'd like to know how he found this thread...

One of the spotlight phrases at the top led me here.


And thanks for giving me my own level of thread revival Akash! :p

[snowmobiler9]

Three key quotes from my team this year:

"I don't always build robots, but when I do they have unneeded strands of LED's"

In response to faulty code, our programmer tends to say "Operator Error" a lot.:o

Spammed by most of our members- "What's a robot?"

[Andrew Lawrence]

And to all 4 people who made a comment to me about my age at the start of this thread: I was 5. :p

[DampRobot]

Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with a piece of chalk and cut it with an axe.

The most important tools in the shop are a hammer and a paintbrush. Cut it to fit and paint it to match.

Garbage in, garbage out.

"That is the sound of a Cross-Part Association failing."

[roystur44]

Here's a good one:

Don't forget to initialize the Semaphore or the CRIO will crash.

[Retired Starman]

I haven't read all 22 pages of this thread, so I apologize if I'm repeating anything but here are my contributions:

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, all the world looks like a nail."

Dr. Bob's Law of Universal Gravitation--"Nothing ever falls off the floor."

Dr. Bob

Chairman's Award is not about building the robot. Every team builds a robot.

[kmcclary]

One of my personal quotes to my teams, that I have to chant every year:
"[Remember that] Gravity Is Your FRIEND!" (or on occasion: "Make Gravity Your Friend!")
First time added phrase for just the gravity quote:
"That downward force is always present for FREE to everyone, everywhere on the field, and adds no device weight to your robot."

It's companion:
"If Gravity fails you, next look to see if you can use a SPRING, before resorting to Cylinders or Motors..."

Once the spring quote is introduced, I often change the chant to:
"Remember: Gravity and Springs are your Friends!"

IOW, whenever possible, try to let gravity (or springs) do a lot of your work for you, instead of immediately jumping to the big active devices.

It still amazes me every year just how many robots show up with motors and cylinders, and consume lots of their limited (precious) pneumatic air and battery power JUST to drive devices and game objects toward the FLOOR. IMO, it is always better to only drive things upward, and whenever possible let springs, bungee cords, surgical tubing and gravity do as much of your downward work for you. It saves energy, and device weight on the robot.

(Of course, if your robot spends a lot of its time tipped or flipped over so that Gravity is pointing the wrong way, that's a whole 'nuther problem... :D)

BTW... The same thing applies to one-shot release widgets (like an end-of-round deployment device). Instead of using a honking motor, that work can often be done with a spring and simple catch, and an itty bitty cylinder, servo, or now even a solenoid as a release device.

There's more savings: Those "little force" widgets can often be driven from the already present cRio bricks (the solenoid driver for a valve or solenoid, or a pwm output for a servo), instead of requiring additional space and weight allowance for another Spike, Victor, or Jaguar, and its associated wiring and breaker.

Even if you have no other pneumatics, one tiny release catch cylinder can easily be driven with stored air, and no compressor is required on the robot. (The "infrastructure overhead" isn't as bad as many fear - a spike by the power distribution panel to operate the off board compressor with a connector, a valve, and one manifold with everything else stuck on it stuffed in some corner of the bot.)

HOWEVER, now that solenoids are allowed, IMO that's even easier than one lone cylinder, as many can be driven from the cRio with no overhead. (Hooray! It's about time solenoids entered the contest! :D)

And lastly:
"When designing, it is always best to save the biggest power motors for the drivetrain, or your highest energy need payload link(s)."

Slowly accumulating energy winding up a spring with a small motor for an occasional big force release often saves you lots of space and weight over its big brothers and their huge, heavy gearboxes. It is also a lot easier on your battery than trying to pulse a bigger load, ...and... it saves the big guns for other uses.

Of them all, I think the first one ("Remember: Gravity is your Friend!") is heard chanted by me several times every build season.

- Keith

[redlau]

If it's not electrical then its software, if it's not software then it isn't broken

[Pun-isher]

Sig related. The 7/16ths have endured for decades.

[Walter Deitzler]

Sorry to revive a dead thread but...

"Is it moving? Yes. Should it be moving? No. Answer: MORE TAPE!"
"Is it moving? No. Should it be moving? Yes. Answer: MORE OIL!"

[Kageshini]

I don't know if someone already post this but engineer law
"if it moves and shouldn't duct tape if it doesn't move and should WD-40"

[Team 4057]

at work we use the slogan "Beatings will continue untell moral improves" very effective.

[CalTran]

at work we use the slogan "Beatings will continue untell moral improves" very effective.

We bought our head mentor a flag that says that. We hang it in the pits at competition

[bardd]

"If it doesn't work with force, you're not using enough force".

Not to be confused with The Force, though with correct use it can be a great tool in engineering.

[simpsonboy77]

Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works bu no one knows why.
On our team we combine theory and practice, nothing works, and no one knows why.

[rachelholladay]

We seem to follow the idea of "Measure twice, cut three times". Cause you know, if you didn't get right the first time, you probably won't quite get it the second time, and maybe you got it by third.

[Garrett.d.w]

"If it doesn't work with force, you're not using enough force".



Along the same lines

"brute force, if it ain't workin, you aren't usin enough of it" (lack of proper spelling necessary)

A classic

"Duct tape is like the force, it has a light side and a dark side and it binds the universe together."

[jwallace15]

Here on T3, we have a Safety Captain. The Safety Captian walks around our shop with a hard hat (covered in sparkles and sequins) saying, "That's not very safe!"

Thus, an engineering slogan; That's not very safe!

[Jon Stratis]

The Glass is Half Full - Optimist
The Glass is Half Empty - Pessimist
The Glass is too Big - Engineer

This came up in my spotlight today, and I wanted to add one more line...
Duck! - Physicist (http://what-if.xkcd.com/6/)