[EricH]

Originally Posted by Thermal

I'm sorry, but the prevelance of this idea is absurd to me. I see absolutely no reason as to why a person cannot be near a robot that is on. A healthy respect for injuries that a robot can cause DOES NOT require one to treat it like its a bomb about to go off. Honestly a robot that turned on is only as dangerous as the person controlling it. As is, everyone on the team should have a sense of trust in their driver, otherwise that person should not be controlling a robot

We aren't exactly talking about team members here. Note the "random hands" in the first post.

You're doing a demo. How close do you want Joe-off-the-street to be to your robot while it is running? Especially given the limited barriers usually found at demos? The best driver in the world can't dodge a pedestrian who jumps out from between parked cars 1 car ahead of him. Similar conditions apply with a robot, except that it's going slower and is lighter than said car (and it's easier to slam into reverse).

I can understand a team member in close proximity, especially if you're running on tether. But if it's someone from the general public, use caution, and have a safety area to stay outside of while the robot is on. Whenever the robot is off and has the stored energy released, as close as you the team want is the limit until it's ready to power on again.