The above are great suggestions for engineering solutions to mitigate the terminal-loosening problem. You might also want to employ some non-engineering solutions:
- Train personnel to pick up batteries two-handed, by the body of the battery, rather than by the cables. Carrying batteries by their leads will wrench the terminals loose and may also damage the more-delicate internal connections within the battery.
- Go through your team's stock of batteries and align all the leads in the same direction. Adapt charging racks and old robots to the new standard orientation. This will discourage heat-of-the-moment efforts to reorient the battery cables when connecting batteries. It may also lead you to consider the cable orientation more closely when designing battery holders on future robots.
If it's anything that FIRST's competitive spirit has taught me, its to take the good with the bad. - Mike Schroeder [more] 
12-09-2012, 16:39
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