Quote:
Originally Posted by Elgin Clock
Quote:
Screw that tether on good and tight!
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No, don’t. Remove tether screws from the robot end, so it will self-protect
by pulling loose if the robot gets away while you are testing.
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Best advice in that paper IMHO. |
I'd take that one step further: even when the tether isn't screwed in, it could still rip the port off the RC if the cable gets pulled away at the wrong angle. We've gotten in the habit of looping the tether and programming cables once around a solid piece of the robot (usually our frame) before connecting it. It's a good idea to do that on the OI/computer side as well (don't want your OI or laptop being yanked off the table!). This way, if the robot takes off, the cable will get stretched tight against the frame. The cable may be damaged, but at least the tether/program port wasn't ripped off your $500 RC!
One thing I'd add to the presentation (didn't see it in there but I just skimmed it): make yourself a "robot disable" dongle (or buy one from AndyMark)! No OI should ever be without one. We attach ours to a piece of velcro and keep it with the OI at all times.