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Unread 21-01-2009, 22:29
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DonRotolo DonRotolo is offline
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FRC #0832
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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Re: Driving on carpet

Quote:
Originally Posted by wilmo View Post
I don't believe it will be a problem either, since most teams mount their electronics on lexan/polycarbonate, no additional precautions are really necessary.
Um, I beg to disagree. Touch some electronics (see ASl's post above) and the static discharge will damage it, either 'walking wounded' or outright failure.

The solution is almost trivial though: ALWAYS (always always) touch the metal chassis before touching anything else. This will discharge any static and render it mostly safe.

The "correct" way is to wear a static discharge strap (buy one, don't make one, they have resistors in there...) and connect THAT to the robot metal before doing anything. Straps like that are under $5.

Thise metal foil-like plastic bags? Yep, those are used to protect static-sensitive items in shipping. ANYhting that came in one is sensitive to static and you really, really ought to follow the right procedures.

Don

*Walking wounded: You have damaged a semiconductor in such a way that it will fail very soon, but works OK at the moment.

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