[Doug G]

Back in the day (2004), one of our team members had a great idea of building an 8 victor stack that looked like a christmas tree. Unfortunately one of the victors was wired in backwards and it took forever to diagnose the problem and it had to be the center victor that was the hardest to reach. Not something you want to do on the Thursday before a competition.

Or how about a battery that came loose in the crate (2003). We opened the crate and found a battery half melted down laying next to our robot. Amazingly enough it didn't leak or cause a fire!!

I think it is good to share these stories so that we all can be vigilant when it comes to safety and the importance of trying to do it right the first time so to avoid engineering mistakes. While making mistakes is a normal part of this process, how much we learn from them and from others will set engineers apart from tinkerers.