[Al Skierkiewicz]

Gary,
Yes you are headed in the right direction. However, remember that wiring stays with the robot no matter what but the sensors and the controller may change if something goes wrong. We add a connector near the sensor with the wiring terminating at the controller. If the sensor is damaged or fails, another sensor with connector attached is pulled from spares. DB9 connectors work very well but are a little bulky. Since you are already wiring the OI inputs through DB connectors, your students have the experience of wiring that style connector and it doesn't require any special tooling. There are crimp ons available from Digikey that are the same as the push on connectors for the fuse panel. They come in both male and female and with a little heatshrink tubing become a perfectly insulated connection, again without extra tooling. Most sensors are either two or three wire devices, and Switchcraft makes a very nice series of connectors that are available with up to 5 pins, have builtin cable clamp, have a metal shell about 1/4" in diameter and have a locking mechanism built in. They are the TA series and are available also from Digikey. (TA3F female TA3M for male) A little on the pricey side ($6/conn) they cannot be damaged and are reusable.