We finally competed yesterday in league play here in Chicago with about 12 teams present for the first set of matches.
Despite our having continuous problems with phone disconnects relating to USB communications both over the last few weeks since our bot has been driving, as well as in several of our matches, we still ended up in first place.
I have heard that there were certain early release Modern Robotics electronic modules that had know issues that triggered frequent disconnects. we are talking to them to see if we have these buggy modules. Meanwhile, I am looking at the problem of our use of many either too stiff, too long (heavy) or too short USB cables on our bot.
I know that the 3d printed strain relief frames are out there, but I would prefer to minimize as much of the source(s) of this stress in the 1st place. To that end, I have been searching for premium USB cables with much higher flexibility (thinner cable). There are some USB cables available marketed for robotics and rated for millions of flex cycles, rather than thousands, but I have not found any "micro" plug size from that source.
This a German company "Hama" has this nice thin cable in micro plug size, but no U.S. distribution that I can find.
Hama brand "Flexi-Slim" Micro USB OTG Adapter Cable, gold-plated, red, 0.15 m
Has anyone else been investigating sources for more suitable cables engineered specifically for robotics duty, expecially ones with right angle options?
-Dick Ledford