Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber
This is the part where I point to my sign which reads "ignorant software engineer". I think what I had in my brain was less of a more realistic test more of a more realistic appearing test. It's REALLY easy for me to rationalize away the risk right now because to me a bullet is far more destructive than our robots. Logically I know it's not but it requires and understanding of physics. A more realistic looking test would remove even that interpretation.
TL;DR - disregard if your target audience is people who actually know stuffs.
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You make a very good point. I think this is where I am going to take a step back and remind myself why Andy and I did this in the first place (and state it directly if it wasn't obvious to everyone):
1) Show how inadequate most of the proposed mitigation solutions were.
2) Show, in a way tangible to a layperson, how much energy is contained in a storage tank.
3) Show how far shrapnel is thrown after a tank failure.
4) Raise awareness of the potential hazards associated with the use of plastic tanks.
5) Hopefully spark a change in the FIRST community. This was the big objective - and I consider it accomplished. I know several teams changed out their white tanks, and I'm pretty sure that Clippard's tank exchange program starting less than a week after our first video was not just coincidence.
6) Have a little fun and provide a little entertainment.
[this is where I leave on a tangent]
We never set out to be scientifically rigorous or to test failure mechanisms. We stated as much in our videos and posts on several occasions. We know that failures can, and do, happen. We consider that aspect of this topic proven empirically by the experiences of numerous teams who have had tanks fail in service. If our videos motivate or inspire another team to do more rigorous testing, hey, that's just icing on the cake as far as I am concerned.
So, I think we're going to leave our efforts at the level we always intended: a demonstration, not a scientifically rigorous experiment. I'd love to test the Pneumaire and AndyMark tanks at some point, but thus far we have no takers to donate tanks.